The Charlotte Hornets are undefeated early on this season at 2-0 after defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night. Miles Bridges dropped 30 points in the Hornets road opener. LaMelo Ball and Gordon Hayward also chipped in with 18 and 17 points respectively. They also combined for 15 assists in the 123-112 victory. Sure, the Hornets have beat two teams that missed the playoffs last season, but they're a few surprises in these victories. Obviously, everyone got to see their resiliency in the matchup against the Indiana Pacers, but there are more surprises to unpack here.
Veteran Presence
The veterans on the Hornets have helped keep this team steady. Again, the major comeback win against the Pacers was impressive. They were down by 23 points to start the third quarter until they stormed back and went on a 24-0 run. That definitely was not just a stroke of luck. The team hunkered down and stringed together consistent stops. LaMelo Ball was the main supply of scoring in that quarter, but it was the defense from the vets, like Kelly Oubre, Ish Smith, and Mason Plumlee. Charlotte did let some key veterans walk away in free agency, but they did an excellent job replacing them.
The Hornets were more than prepared to take care of business whenever they hit the road to play the Cavs. As impressive as the comeback was, no team wants to dig themselves in a hole that deep. Bet money that the veterans were preaching getting off to a better start in game number two on the season. Either way, the veteran presence is already paying dividends for this young team.
Gordon Hayward
All be it just two games, Gordon Hayward looks pretty damn great. Up until the season opener, he hasn't played a game since late April of last season. Injuries sidelined him for the remainder of the 2020-21 season. That is six months of no NBA action for Hayward. So far, he has looked pretty sharp. He turned in 27 points in the season opener. Dropping 14 of those points in the fourth quarter. Against Cleveland, he finished with 18 points in a dominant win. His scoring is huge for the Hornets, but the real surprise is his playmaking through these couple of games.
In two games he is averaging six, which is good for second on the team behind LaMelo at 6.5 Which makes many wonder if Hayward can be a consistent playmaker with this squad. With Terry Rozier and Ball, the Hornets have two point guards who are more than capable of scoring and creating plays for others. However, if Hayward can continue to keep his assists numbers up, it'll make this team dangerous.
LaMelo's Minutes
Ball isn't old enough to buy alcoholic beverages yet. So why has he only played 29 minutes in both of the Hornets games so far? It is great that they won their first two games, but it's just weird he hasn't played over 30 minutes yet. Normally, coaches will play their younger players heavier minutes. Which makes sense because their bodies can normally sustain the rigors of the NBA season better than that of a 15-year veteran. Maybe it is a smart move to save Ball's body because there are 80 more games to go in the season. Still, a little strange that we haven't seen LaMelo mania early on this season.
James Borrego does come from the San Antonio Spurs coaching tree. They normally don't play their stars or young players a lot of minutes. With the exception of the playoffs of course. It is possible that all of this is just apart of their plan. Saving their franchise player's legs for later in the season. It will be interesting to see how many minutes he does play down the stretch of the season. Ball is the type of player that wants to play as much as possible at all cost. As long as the team is winning games, it must not matter too much to coach Borrego.
It is only two games though, so the sample size is pretty small. As the season progresses the Hornets will have a better grasp of who they are. The newest editions through the draft haven't played much this season. They will likely see the floor more as the season progresses and add a new dynamic to the fold. The general managers in the league did select this team as the third most likely to break out. They should have improvements across the board compared to last season.
Being 2-0 early is a pretty good start for the Hornets.
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