The Charlotte Hornets have lost their first two season games to the Boston Celtics (134-93) and to the Indiana Pacers (122-97) in blowout fashion. In both of those games, the team has struggled to generate offense. Creating on that on the floor has been a struggle in the limited minutes that the starters have been playing. Hornets fans have also had high expectations for James Bouknight to show up and show out after his underwhelming rookie year. That has not been the case early on in the preseason. He has a combined seven points in his first two outings.
Steve Clifford is not worried about his struggles though. In fact, he has plenty of confidence in his second-year guard.
“Young guys gotta go through these things. I’m high on him. I think he has starter potential.”
Bouknight was the Hornets' lottery pick back in 2021. He flashed potential to be a solid shot-creating scorer in limited action under James Borrego. All he needs at this point is just the reps to show why he was drafted in the lottery. Clifford continued on by highlighting that a lot of college players do not come in as polished of a scorer as James Bouknight came in. He did average 20 points back at Uconn. Although the competition on the collegiate level is different, Clifford still feels as if Bouknight can find his groove in the NBA soon.
The Hornets are traveling to Greensboro, North Carolina to take on the Celtics again. Clifford, Mason Plumlee, and LaMelo Ball all feel like they could have a better showing after playing them a few days ago. They are hoping to learn from some mistakes that were made in their last matchup. Maybe James Bouknight can shake off some rust and find ways to get easy shots and play within the flow of the offense.
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