LaMelo Ball, Gordon Hayward and the Charlotte Hornets defeated the Indiana Pacers, 123-122. However, they didn't have a good first half–in fact, it was pretty terrible.

At the start of the third quarter, the Hornets were down by 23 points. In a shocking twist, thought, they found their rhythm and went on a 24-0 run for roughly seven minutes to end the period. They earned this win and showed off one major key for the roster: resilience.

Of course, Coach James Borrego wasn't excited about the slow start, but he found the silver lining in being down by a bunch.

“Resiliency and perseverance. Those are the two words you’re going to hear throughout the year,” Borrego said. He admitted that the Pacers were the more physical and aggressive team throughout the first half. They flipped the script and it's all thanks to their stifling defense.

“It started with our defense – we held them to 13 points in the third quarter. So, overall I think it was our defensive mentality,” Borrego continued.

He's on the money. Those stops helped the Hornets get out in transition and convert easy fast-break points in that third quarter. Which is where LaMelo Ball dominated. He finished the game with a team-high 31 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Not to mention, he tied his career-high for threes made in a game with seven and only missed two of them. Ball sparked the run that allowed the team to claw back into the game.

The game went down to the wire in the fourth quarter, but the Hornets veterans stepped up big for the team in crunch time. Ish Smith and Kelly Oubre Jr. chipped in with 14 points apiece, while Gordon Hayward banked 14 huge points in the fourth alone to complete the comeback. Hayward hasn't played a game since April and struggling pretty much all game long. Nonetheless, he came up big as the team's closer.

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“Everything was short,” Hayward said. “We picked it up in the second half and my shot started to fall, but then the fans got into it. It was a great game. I'm just happy that we found a way to get the win.”

This was a tough, gritty win. The Hornets were slow to start this one, though they ended up piecing it all together to close it out. To win in the NBA consistently, you need your star to step up. Thankfully for the Hornets, LaMelo answered the bell. The 2020-21 Rookie of the Year shows no signs of slowing down in his sophomore campaign. While he is young, he displayed that he is already a leader.

Oh yeah, he put up the stats he did all while only playing 29 minutes.

The best is yet to come for this young team. Stay tuned for more Hornets action!