Subscribe
Follow Us
The Charlotte Hornets are surprising many people around the NBA this season. This squad is very young and led by LaMelo Ball, who is only 20 right now. However, it is not just Ball, as guys like Miles Bridges, Terry Rozier, Gordon Hayward, and many others have stepped up. They seem to have a great combination of experience and hungry young guys. The Hornets are currently sitting at 23-20, which is enough for 7th in the East. They are about two wins back of the 6th spot and direct qualification for the playoffs. Still, even if they finish in the play-in, the Hornets can be very impactful in the postseason. Thus, here are two main reasons why LaMelo Ball and the Hornets are a dark horse in the East.
1) Young guns are shooting
The Hornets are one of the youngest teams in the NBA. There are only four teams younger on average than the Hornets, which are the Timberwolves, Pistons, Grizzlies, and the Thunder. Yet, on the field, it does not seem so. The Hornets are playing very well and they generally do not fall apart in clutch situations. For such a young squad, they have had 23 games in clutch situations, winning 12 out of them, according to NBA Stats. Their win percentage in these situations is 13th in the league, but they have the nine most wins in the clutch.
The young guys on the Hornets roster are really pulling through. Currently, their two best scorers are LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges, who are 20 and 23, respectively. Ball is averaging 19,4 points on 42.1% shooting from the field and 36.9% shooting from three-point range. On the other hand, Bridges is on 19.6 points, shooting 47.3% from the field and averaging 7.2 rebounds per game. They are well complemented by the veteran duo of Terry Rozier and Gordon Hayward, who are averaging 18.3 and 17.3 points, respectively.
That does not mean that they are the only ones lifting the Hornets up. We cannot undermine the rest of their roster, starting with Kelly Oubre Jr. The journeyman who is playing for the fourth team in his seven-year career is fitting in great with the Hornets, playing the role of bench wing scorer. He is making 37.3% of his three-point shots, which is great considering he takes 7.8 three-pointers per game. There is also PJ Washingon, who just got back after an injury. He is averaging 10.0 points per game, but as he comes back into his own, the forward will be even better for the Hornets.
This young squad has shown it has no fear this season, as their best players have taken responsibility when needed. As it can be seen from the list of young squads above, outside of the Grizzlies, it is only the Hornets who are a playoff team. Usually, younger teams occupy the bottom parts of the conferences, but the Hornets are able to mix young players with some experience, in the form of Hayward and Rozier, and it seems to be working.
2) The East is volatile
Last season, absolutely no one saw the Hawks making the Eastern Conference Finals last year. In a similar vein, it is entirely possible to see the Hornets making a similar run. LaMelo Ball is not Trae Young, but the Hornets have a team that is good enough to surprise anyone. Additionally, while everyone saw the Nets and the Bucks as overwhelming favorites, the current top four is led by the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls. Both of these teams are good, of course, but they are not unbeatable.
This season, the Hornets played all of these teams, with varying results. They beat the Nets once and the Bucks twice, but lost to the Bulls once, Bucks once, and to the Heat once. Their win against Brooklyn was especially impressive, beating the title favorites by 16 points. If they could channel that form, come important playoff games, the Hornets can absolutely beat anyone. The East generally does not have an out-and-out favorite, especially since all teams have the exact same chance against one another.
Aside from the four mentioned teams, there are also the Sixers and the Cavs. The Hornets played the Sixers twice, winning and losing once. They played the Cavs once, losing the single contest in a heartbreak decided by just three points. The overall point remains that the Hornets, even with their young squad, are fully able to contend with the best of them, and they will be a difficult team to eliminate. The best thing about this season for the Hornets is that they can be patient, since they are so young, and even if they go out in the first round or even in the play-in, they will still be happy about the experience of this great season.
