The Charlotte Hornets franchise was founded in 1988, but they never started a season 3-0 until they won their third straight game over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday, 111-95. Out of their three wins this season, this is easily the most impressive. Beating a team featuring two guys that are essentially locks for the Hall of Fame in James Harden and Kevin Durant isn't easy.
Holding them to just 95 points is even harder, but the Hornets found a way to get the job done. Their defense swarmed around the Nets all night long and forced tough shots everywhere. Winning the first three games in franchise history is always cool too.
Miles Bridges finished with 32 points and nine rebounds in the huge win for the Hornets. It's the first time in his career that he scored 30 plus points in back-to-back games. He provided the consistent scoring spark that his team needed. Not to mention he spent a lot of time guarding both James Harden and Kevin Durant in this game. Durant still managed to pour in 38 points, but he was doing everything on both sides of the ball.
LaMelo Ball looked good in the first three quarters of this game as well. He finished with 18 points, five rebounds, and 5 assists. However, he didn't play a single second in the fourth quarter because the team was playing great without him and it was his decision. Hornets head coach James Borrego said that LaMelo wanted to ride out the rest of the quarter with Ish Smith running the show. Smith did do most of his damage in the fourth quarter and even sunk the dagger to put the game out of reach.
It goes to show that the reigning Rookie of the Year has shown a lot of maturity early on. His growth as a basketball player is obvious, but it appears to have grown even more as a leader. At only 20 years old he can tell when the flow of the game is working in the team's favor and he didn't want to mess it up. Even Ish admitted that he is the leader of this team and he's not even old enough to drink yet!
All jokes aside, it's awesome that a 12-year NBA veteran recognizes Ball as the leader of the Hornets. Mile Bridges also admitted that LaMelo would not have suggested to stay sidelined last season. Ball is growing before our eyes every time he steps on and off the court apparently.
The Hornets are in a nice groove right now.
The Nets are one of the heavyweights in the NBA, so the Hornets should cherish this win for tonight. Then get ready to play the Boston Celtics back home at Spectrum Center. Borrego highlighted that “staying in the moment is crucial” when on a winning streak. They can easily be broken so taking it one game at a time is the perfect approach to attempt to extend their win streak to four.
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