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The Charlotte Hornets improved to 5-2 after a win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night. This was arguably one of the Hornets' most cohesive team wins. They finished the game with 36 assists and it's worth noting LaMelo Ball didn't lead the squad in assists in the victory. It was Miles Bridges, who tallied a career-high nine assists.
It was a tightly contested game all throughout the first half, but the Hornets were able to pull away in the third quarter. That was in large part due to Kelly Oubre Jr.'s huge second half performance. He finished the game with 26 points off the bench after starting in place of the injured Terry Rozier in their previous games.
Rozier returned to the lineup and had 14 points in 33 minutes. His presence on the floor was felt immediately. Despite not leading the Hornets in scoring, he is still always a threat to score. Defenses have to respect his offensive ability and close out as soon as he touches the ball. Rozier only finished with five dimes, but he touched the ball on a lot of possessions that turned into points.
After the game, Hornets coach James Borrego said he was excited to have Rozier back in the lineup.
“It was great,” Borrego said. “His energy, toughness, he adds a lot of depth to our team, it allows Kelly to play against their second unit and you have to give Kelly a ton of credit tonight, he played 18 straight minutes so you really have to give him a ton of credit and a lot of that is because we had Terry back in the lineup and I think Terry is only going to get better over time. Adding him back to the mix, his leadership and toughness is huge for us.”
Rozier chimed in and said “It was amazing” to be back on the floor with his teammates. He also highlighted how it felt good to just pull out a win with him in the roster and everyone healthy and available.
“It’s always a great feeling when you have all your soldiers out there. I am just glad we pulled it out and we have another one tomorrow night before hitting the road and hopefully, we can just keep it going,” Rozier said.
Every piece is important for the Hornets to be successful moving forward, but knowing how they fit will make the biggest difference. Borrego is excited about their potential and said he likes the team's balance and versatility that he saw against the Trail Blazers.
They were able to keep Damian Lillard from finding his shooting stroke as well. Lillard has struggled in the early goings of the season and the Hornets were fortunate enough that he failed to find a shooting rhythm. He was 5-of-20 from the field and finished the game with 14 points and 12 assists. Oh yeah, the Hornets also spoiled Cody Zeller's return to Buzz City. That's always fun to do to former players.
The Hornets get a nice win on Halloween night but they have to regroup quickly and try to do it again against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday.
