Charlotte Hornets

Steve Clifford is stepping down as the Charlotte Hornets' coach at the end of the season and is expected to move into a front office role with the franchise.

The Hornets announced that Clifford will coach their final seven games, beginning Wednesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers. Clifford informed his assistants and players of the news Wednesday morning, sources said.

Charlotte's new executive vice president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson and co-owners Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin were open to bringing him back as coach next season, but Clifford, 62, decided he wasn't prepared to commit to the year-round grind of head coaching for the 2024-2025 season, sources said.

Clifford didn't want to hinder the franchise's ability to compete for the top coaches available in the marketplace, and it allows the Hornets to begin an immediate search for his successor, sources said.

"This is the appropriate time for me to step down," Clifford said in a statement released by the team. "I believe this is best for me and the organization. I'm excited about the future of the Hornets -- our young core of players, Jeff's leadership of our basketball operations and Rick and Gabe's vision for the organization. I want to thank all the Hornets players and staff for their work the past two seasons and our Hornets fans for their continued support of our team."

The Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards -- who both have interim head coaches -- are expected to join the Hornets in coaching searches in the offseason.

Sources told ESPN that Boston's Charles Lee, Sacramento's Jordi Fernandez, Miami's Chris Quinn, Phoenix's Kevin Young and others are among the league's assistant coaching candidates expected to be considered in the Charlotte process.

The Hornets job becomes more appealing with the emergence of No. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller as a future star in the league, and a core of young players and arsenal of future first-round picks to build out a roster.

The Hornets have been beset with injuries and absences in Clifford's return to Charlotte over the past two seasons. All-Star guard LaMelo Ball played only 22 games before being shut down for the season.

The Hornets (18-57) had the NBA's third-most missed games because of injuries this season, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Ball played only 58 games for Clifford in the past two seasons.

Peterson, who worked with Clifford in Brooklyn, and ownership are eager to create an adviser position that would allow Clifford to remain in Charlotte and impact all parts of the organization, sources said. Those details are expected to be finalized in the coming weeks, sources said.

"Dating back to our time together in Brooklyn, I have a tremendous amount of appreciation for Coach Cliff, and I understand his decision to step down," Peterson said in a statement. "His basketball knowledge, teaching ability and work ethic are well-respected throughout the NBA. He has had to endure some very difficult circumstances the past two years, and yet our players have continued to compete, work hard and develop. On behalf of the entire Hornets organization, I want to thank Steve for all his efforts, and we look forward to having him remain a part of the organization.

"While Steve will continue to coach the team for the remainder of the season, we will immediately begin the search process for our next head coach. We will look to hire someone that shares our values and vision in developing our young core and creating a culture and identity based on teamwork, accountability and competitiveness. We will conduct a thorough search process to select the best head coach for the Hornets moving forward."

In 10 seasons with Charlotte and Orlando as a head coach, Clifford is 337-457 with four trips to the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The Charlotte Hornets are planning to hire Brooklyn Nets executive Jeff Peterson as the franchise's next head of basketball operations, and the sides expect to reach a contractual agreement soon, sources told ESPN on Thursday.

Peterson, 35, is completing a meteoric rise to oversee the Hornets' front office and become tasked with revitalizing one of the league's traditionally underperforming franchises. New owners Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin chose Peterson to replace Mitch Kupchak, who is moving from general manager into an advisory role with the Hornets.

Charlotte's ownership is convinced of Peterson's ability to be a long-term leader for the organization and deliver it the kind of player personnel acumen, relationships and deal-making ability with rival executives, player agents and players necessary to transform the Hornets into a formidable franchise.

Peterson -- one of a dozen candidates who sources said had interviews with the Hornets' ownership -- has history with Schnall, who served as a minority owner for the Hawks, where Peterson rose from an intern to an assistant GM within four years. Peterson built a good professional relationship with Hornets coach Steve Clifford during their time with the Nets, where Clifford served as a coaching consultant in the 2021-22 season.

The Hornets started to gather up assets ahead of the February trade deadline, acquiring future first-round draft picks from the Heat and Mavericks.

Peterson joined Nets GM Sean Marks as an assistant GM in 2019 and became a trusted No. 2 on a staff that attracted Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in free agency and traded for James Harden.

He's the second assistant GM from Marks' front office to elevate into a GM-level role elsewhere. New Orleans GM Trajan Langdon left for a promotion with the Pelicans in 2019.

Peterson -- a native of Springfield, Missouri -- played college basketball in the Big Ten, SEC and ACC for Iowa, Arkansas and Florida State.

Schnall and Plotkin have started spearheading significant change and upgrades in the Hornets' infrastructure since purchasing a majority interest in the team from Michael Jordan for $3 billion in August.

The Hornets made several roster moves ahead of the Feb. 8 trade deadline to start gathering draft assets and young players, including two future first-round picks in trades that sent out Terry Rozier and P.J. Washington. Rookie forward Brandon Miller -- the No. 2 pick in last year's NBA draft -- has shown the promise of a future All-Star to go along with All-Star point guard LaMelo Ball.

The franchise has also embarked on a $275 million arena renovation and plans for a new $60 million practice facility. Before joining the Hornets in 2018, Kupchak had a decorated 30-year run in the Lakers' front office -- including 17 years as GM with four NBA championships and six Western Conference titles. Kupchak won seven titles as an executive, two as a Lakers player and one as a Washington player.

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The Charlotte Hornets are expected to sign F Aleksej Pokusevski, sources tell ESPN. The Oklahoma City Thunder waived him this week. Pokusevski was the 17th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

The Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s office dismissed four charges against Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges on Tuesday relating to two separate incidents, according to publicly available documents obtained by The Athletic.

The filings, made in Mecklenburg County District Court, show that the district attorney dropped three charges against Bridges stemming from an October incident involving him and the mother of his children, who is also his ex-girlfriend. A criminal summons issued for Bridges alleged misdemeanor child abuse, injury to personal property and that he had violated a domestic violence protective order. Those charges were dismissed Thursday due to insufficient evidence, the prosecutor’s office said in a court filing.

The prosecutors said that contradictory statements provided by the accuser led to the dismissal. The accuser had initially told police that a woman had caused damage to her car, where she and her children were present, then gave a statement several days later that Bridges had caused the damage. She then gave another statement to prosecutors recently ahead of the trial that she was “unsure” how the damage was caused.

“Given the lack of sufficient evidence necessary to overcome the inconsistency of these accounts, the state would not be successful at trial,” the filing said.

Prosecutors also dismissed a separate charge against Bridges that he had violated a domestic violence protective order. A warrant for his arrest relating to that allegation had been issued on Jan. 2, 2023.

A court filing said this charge was also dismissed due to insufficient evidence.

The prosecutor alleged that Bridges had contacted the woman on several social media platforms, which violated a no-contact order from the court. But the woman, the prosecutor wrote, doesn’t have those messages anymore and cannot remember the contacts or its content. The filing also said that although the woman’s interaction with police was recorded by body cameras, the contact and content were not.

“Given her lack of memory and no other corroboration of the violation, the state would not be successful at trial,” the prosecutor said in the filing with the court.

Bridges is also still serving three years of probation from a plea deal with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. He pleaded no contest after a June 2022 domestic violence incident with his then-girlfriend. Bridges received no jail time through the plea deal. As part of the deal, Bridges agreed to a 10-year criminal protection order for the woman, weekly narcotics and marijuana testing and restitution, according to earlier court filings in this same case. The order is in place until Nov. 3, 2032.

The NBA suspended Bridges last April for 30 games for violating its domestic violence policy. He missed all of last season and tolled 20 of those games during that absence, and served the final 10 to begin this season after he re-signed with the Hornets over the summer.

Charlotte Hornets guard Kyle Lowry has agreed to a contract buyout, clearing the way for him to sign for the rest of the season with the Philadelphia 76ers, his representative, Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports told ESPN on Saturday night.

Once Lowry clears waivers in the coming days, he'll sign a $2.8 million deal with the Sixers, Bartelstein told ESPN. The Hornets said on Sunday that Lowry had been waived.

Lowry -- a six-time All-Star guard -- has long hoped to play for his hometown 76ers, and now the alumnus of Cardinal Dougherty High School and Villanova University will get his chance to make a playoff push with his longtime former coach, Nick Nurse.

Lowry landed with the Hornets as part of the Terry Rozier trade last month from Miami, and Charlotte and Lowry agreed that he would sit out until after the trade deadline. Lowry had $10.6 million left on his $29.7 million deal for 2023-2024 before the buyout with Hornets.

Lowry will join a reshaped post-trade deadline Sixers roster that includes guard Buddy Hield -- and they'll try to help keep the Sixers in solid playoff shape until the eventual return of reigning MVP center Joel Embiid, who is out several weeks after left knee surgery.

Charlotte Hornets president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak is stepping down to become an organizational adviser, clearing the way for the franchise to begin an immediate search for a new head of basketball operations, sources told ESPN on Monday morning.

There's an expectation that new owners Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin will hire a new top basketball executive prior to the end of the regular season, which will allow Kupchak to remain in his day-to-day role until his successor is on board, sources said.

Kupchak, 69, would be completing a remarkably successful career that included 10 championships as a front-office executive and player.

The Hornets' search is expected to focus on several sitting general managers, including Philadelphia's Elton Brand, New Orleans' Trajan Langdon, Cleveland's Mike Gansey and the LA Clippers' Trent Redden, sources said. Brooklyn's Jeff Peterson, Washington's Travis Schlenk and Sacramento's Wes Wilcox are among assistant GMs who will be in consideration, sources said. Peterson, Schlenk and Wilcox worked with the Atlanta Hawks when Schnall was one of the franchise's minority owners.

Schnall and Plotkin have started spearheading significant change and upgrades in the Hornets' infrastructure since purchasing a majority interest in the team from Michael Jordan for $3 billion in August.

The Hornets made several roster moves in recent weeks to start gathering draft assets and young players for a rebuild, including two future first-round picks in trades that sent out Terry Rozier and P.J. Washington. Rookie forward Brandon Miller has shown the promise of a future All-Star.

The franchise has also embarked on a $275 million arena renovation and plans for a new $60 million practice facility. The Hornets are 11-41 and have been largely decimated by injuries this season.

Kupchak will be completing his sixth season as Charlotte's top basketball executive, a run that included the drafting of Miller and 2021 NBA Rookie of the Year and All-Star guard LaMelo Ball.

Before joining the Hornets in 2018, Kupchak had a decorated 30-year run in the Lakers' front office -- including 17 years as GM with four NBA championships and six Western Conference titles. Kupchak won seven titles as an executive, two as a Lakers player and one as a Washington player.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/11645511

Report: P.J. Washington Traded to Mavs; Hornets Get Grant Williams, Seth Curry, Pick

The Dallas Mavericks are acquiring Washington from the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Grant Williams, Seth Curry and a first-round pick.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/14963069

The Oklahoma City Thunder are finalizing a trade to send G Tre Mann and F Davis Bertans to the Charlotte Hornets for Gordon Hayward -Woj

The Miami Heat acquired Charlotte Hornets guard Terry Rozier for guard Kyle Lowry and a protected 2027 first-round pick on Tuesday.

The deal lands the Heat a gifted scoring guard who's having one of his best NBA seasons -- averaging 23.2 points and 6.6 assists a game.

The Hornets (10-31) -- who are beginning to accumulate future assets ahead of the Feb. 8 trade deadline -- will get a lottery-protected pick in 2027 that becomes unprotected in 2028.

Charlotte is discussing other deals on its veteran players ahead of the trade deadline and plans to continue accumulating assets, sources told ESPN.

The Hornets will work to move Lowry, 37, onto another team before the deadline, but short of finding a deal for him and his $29.6 million expiring contract, he could eventually become a contract buyout candidate, sources said.

The Heat will save $15.4 million in luxury tax on the trade and create a $6.4 million trade exception.

Under new ownership in Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin, the Hornets are planning to build around young players LaMelo Ball and rookie Brandon Miller and gather up draft assets and young players in potential deals.

With the Heat 24-19 and sixth in the Eastern Conference, Rozier, 29, gives them some more dynamic guard play and hope that he can help them make another run in the Eastern Conference playoffs this year and beyond.

ESPN's Bobby Marks contributed to this report.

Here are the scheduled Charlotte Hornets games for January 2024, courtesy of ProSportsBackgrounds.com

Continuing the new format from last month, I will be pinning the post-game thread for this December's Hornets games. ~~The correct schedule is~~ Most of the scheduled games are now posted in the attached image from prosportsbackgrounds.com

Like what I've done in the c/DetroitPistons community, I’ll also be setting up a monthly thread for Hornets post-game recaps starting with the November 17 and 18 back-to-back games against the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks, respectively

Washington Goes for Season-High 32 PTS, Ball Records 5th Straight 25-PT Showing

Down roughly six rotational players – including their first and third-leading scorers – the Charlotte Hornets threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Miami Heat in a valiant 111-105 In-Season Tournament home loss on Tuesday night.

PJ Washington bounced back from a tough showing two days ago in New York, scoring a season-high 32 points on 13-of-23 shooting, which included a campaign best six 3-pointers. Although the efficiency wasn’t quite there (9-of-26 with eight turnovers), LaMelo Ball had 28 points and a game-high 11 assists to become the first Charlotte player with five straight 25-point games since Kemba Walker did so in February of 2019, per Stathead.

Charlotte canned its first six 3-point attempts and led 32-24 following the opening quarter. Miami expectedly stormed back in the second though, forcing eight turnovers and winning the frame, 33-16, to take a nine-point halftime lead. The deficit climbed to 13 in the third, but the Hornets brought it back down to four with 3:34 left on the game clock. A turnover, a couple quick shots and a late missed defensive rebound ended their hopes of a win, though.

“We started great,” said Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford afterwards. “Obviously, P.J. and ‘Melo both got off to great starts. The second quarter, that was a lack of organization on stuff that we worked through this morning. You’ve got guys in there that don’t play a lot, but they get their reps, and they should know what we’re doing. We blew two sets in the last three-and-a-half, four minutes there. Again, we’ve got different groups out there, but they’ve all had enough reps, so they should know where they’re going. We were getting shots off a particular action then we just got all screwed up, and those are two huge possessions.”

Bryce McGowens (season-high 12 points), Mark Williams (11) and Nick Richards (10) also crossed the double-digit scoring plateau, with Richards wrangling a season-high 12 rebounds for his second double-double of the year. Charlotte canned a season-high 15-of-32 3-point attempts (46.9%) but committed a lopsided 18 turnovers for 23 Miami points. Terry Rozier, Gordon Hayward, and Brandon Miller were amongst the team’s seven unavailable players.

“I think everybody was locked in and ready to play,” said Washington. “The biggest thing for us tonight was turnovers. We turned the ball over on the press and they got up on us. When we’re missing guys, we can’t really afford to make mistakes. Obviously, we made too many. We turned the ball over too many times. It’s unacceptable in this league and we can’t win like that.”

Navigating a depleted depth chart was something the Hornets dealt with a lot last season. On the bright side at least, the injuries to Rozier, Hayward and Miller aren’t considered serious long-term issues, according to Clifford. But until more bodies start coming back, Charlotte’s margin for error on the court is going to be razor thin.

Jimmy Butler notched a season-high 32 points on 10-of-14 shooting – 11-of-14 from the free-throw line – in the Heat’s sixth consecutive victory. Bam Adebayo recorded 21 points and 11 rebounds for his sixth double-double and eighth 20-point showing of the season.

The Hornets will host another NBA In-Season Tournament game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday, Nov. 17 beginning at 7 PM ET at Spectrum Center. Catch all the action on Bally Sports Southeast and WFNZ 92.7 FM.

Miller Sprains Left Ankle Early, Charlotte Struggles with Transition Defense, Fouling

Adding another injury – this time involving prized rookie Brandon Miller – to their already lengthy list of absences became too much for the Charlotte Hornets to work through in their 129-107 road loss in New York on Sunday afternoon.

One continued bright spot for the Hornets was LaMelo Ball, who finished with a game-high 32 points on 13-of-20 shooting – 4-of-8 from 3-point range – seven rebounds, six assists and only two turnovers in the defeat. Ball has topped 30 points in three of his last four games and has also now recorded at least 25 points in a career-best four consecutive outings.

Just like they did in Friday’s contest in Washington, the Hornets fell behind by 16 in the first half, and then closed the second quarter with a small 6-0 run to make it a 64-54 New York lead. The Knicks didn’t waste any time in the third though, opening the frame with an 18-5 stretch over the first four-and-a-half minutes of action which basically did Charlotte in for good.

The visitors canned a season-high 12-of-35 3-point attempts (34.3%), but in a rare seasonal occurrence, got outscored by New York in the paint, 62-56. Despite the solid shooting (46.8%), offense was an uphill battle for the Hornets, especially with the Knicks feasting on fast-break scoring (22), points off turnovers (20) and at the line (20-of-30).

“At the beginning of the third quarter, we got a bunch of open shots we didn’t make, and it turned into fast-break points for them at the other end,” said Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford. “Right now, we don’t have any room for error. I thought we did a lot of good things. We’re asking a lot out of a few guys right now and it’s going to be hard until we get guys back.”

Miller had a quick 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the first quarter before soon exiting the game with a left ankle sprain after he accidently stepped on Josh Hart’s foot. Nick Richards (season-high 16 points) and Mark Williams (10) were the only other Charlotte players to score in double figures. Rookies Leaky Black and Amari Bailey both notched their first NBA buckets, with Bailey’s coming right as the final buzzer sounded.

“He tried to come back in,” explained Clifford, when asked about Miller’s injury after the game. “I think it’ll be more day-to-day. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow getting treatment and stuff and hopefully, he’s good by Tuesday.”

RJ Barrett (24), Julius Randle (23) and Jalen Brunson (20) all had 20-point showings for the Knicks, who are now 11-3 since the start of last season when this trio all hits this threshold. Immanuel Quickley added 17 points, five rebounds and dished out a game-high nine assists off the bench in New York’s third consecutive victory.

The Hornets will now begin a five-game homestand with another In-Season Tournament battle against the Miami Heat on Tuesday, Nov. 14 beginning at 7 PM ET at Spectrum Center. Catch all the action on Bally Sports Southeast and WFNZ 92.7 FM.

Charlotte’s Big Man Snags Career-High 24 REB, Team-Record 15 OREB in 1st IST Victory

One of the more dominant single-game rebounding performances in franchise history helped catapult the Charlotte Hornets to a come-from-behind 124-117 In-Season Tournament victory in Washington on Friday night.

Mark Williams had the best night of his NBA tenure thus far, finishing with 21 points on 10-of-21 shooting and a career-high 24 rebounds, a franchise-record 15 of which were on the offensive glass. This marks the first 20-20 game of Williams’ career and it’s also the first by a Charlotte player since Dwight Howard’s historic 30-30 showing in Brooklyn on March 21, 2018.

Washington raced out to a 17-5 lead and led by 16 in the first half, before the Hornets rode their second-chance scoring to enter halftime down, 63-57. The deficit yo-yo’ed for most of the second half, with the Wizards working their way to a 109-99 lead with 7:23 to go. Soon though, a LaMelo Ball 3-pointer ignited a pendulum-swinging 21-4 run to put Charlotte up by seven with 75 seconds left. Williams then flushed in two second-chance dunks in the final minute to seal it.

In addition to Williams, the Hornets’ 28 offensive rebounds and 67 total rebounds were the second-most and third-most in any game in franchise history, respectively. They also outscored Washington by 25 in second-chance points (32-7) and the plus-31 rebounding margin (67-36) broke a franchise record that was set on March 6, 1998, against Seattle (48-20). This win makes the Hornets a perfect 1-0 in IST play and likely eliminates Washington from the Knockout Round.

“We struggled a lot of the game trying to guard them,” said Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford. “The fourth quarter was better – we held them to 20. We didn’t shoot the ball well obviously, but we didn’t turn the ball over tonight. We had only 10 turnovers and we got a bunch of points in the paint. We’re going to have to figure out the 3-point shooting. We got ones we’ll make eventually, and we did make them late. As much as anything, just great fourth-quarter play.”

Gordon Hayward (27 points and nine assists, both season highs), Ball (25), Nick Richards (season-high 15), Brandon Miller (12) and PJ Washington (11) also scored in double figures, with Washington snagging 10 boards for his second double-double of the season. Charlotte missed its first 12 3-point attempts and finished 6-of-28 (21.4%), with four of those makes coming in the late fourth-quarter swing. “For me, I know with percentages, I’m destined to make a lot, so I just keep shooting,” said Ball, who had 13 points and was 3-of-3 from deep in the fourth.

Charlotte made some significant defensive adjustments following Wednesday’s 16-point home loss to the Wizards, holding Kyle Kuzma to only 17 points after he had 33 the other night. Tyus Jones added 16 points, but Italian marksman Danilo Gallinari had only nine points and was 1-of-4 from 3-point range, a big drop-off from the 18-point showing he had in the Queen City. Added Clifford, “We made less mistakes on Gallinari than we did the other night. Our high pick-and-roll defense is our biggest problem right now. We got to get that down.”

The Hornets will close out their short two-game road trip with a matinee battle against the New York Knicks on Sunday, Nov. 12 starting at 12 PM ET at Madison Square Garden. Catch all the action on Bally Sports Southeast and WFNZ 92.7 FM.

Wizards Dominate Bench Scoring; Points off Turnovers, 3-PT Shooting Hurt Charlotte

An encouraging start completely crumbled in the second quarter for the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night, setting the stage for a 132-116 home loss to the Washington Wizards.

LaMelo Ball continued to turn a promising corner though, finishing with a season-high 34 points on 13-of-22 shooting, four rebounds, seven assists and six turnovers. This output is now tied for the third-highest single-game scoring total of Ball’s NBA career and is his most since notching a career-high 38 points in Boston on Feb. 2, 2022.

Ahead by five after the first 12 minutes, the Hornets got blown off the court in the second quarter. Led by veteran floor-spacer Danilo Gallinari, Washington’s smaller lineups shot 67% and 7-of-11 from 3-point range (64%) to win the frame, 41-17 and take a commanding 19-point halftime lead. For reference, the minus-24 point differential would have been Charlotte’s second lowest in any quarter last season. The hosts mounted a 21-7 run in the third to get back within eight before the Wizards quickly pulled away for good.

“They downsized and it’s been a problem for us,” said Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford afterwards. “We have different things we’ve been doing and at times it’s worked, but tonight obviously it didn’t. When we have to play without Mark [Williams] or Nick [Richards], then our defense has no shot, and we can’t rebound. We have a good team, but we need those two guys to be in and be a positive part of it. When we got that game down to a workable, manageable deficit, we broke the lineup and it got away from us quickly. The big thing is we’ve got to find a way that’s more consistent, so we can keep our size on the floor.”

Gordon Hayward (18), PJ Washington (14), Williams (14) and Brandon Miller (13) also scored in double figures for Charlotte, with Williams running his consecutive-field-goals-made streak to 18 (now the longest by any in player in franchise history since the 1997-98 season). While the Hornets did knock down 52% from the floor, they went only 8-of-25 on 3-point attempts (32%) and committed a haphazard season-high 22 turnovers for 35 Washington points.

Kyle Kuzma poured in 33 points on 13-of-24 shooting, nine rebounds and four assists to help the Wizards snap their four-game losing streak. Delon Wright and Gallinari, who had 18 and 39 total seasonal points coming into the night, respectively, each added 18 off the bench. Bench scoring was a massive discrepancy in the final box score, which Washington won, 72-23.

Added Hayward, “I think they found something with Gallinari at the five. They hit some timely threes and that got them rolling. We made a little bit of a run there in the third and it felt like they pushed it right back to 20 really quick. Too many straight-line drives to the rim, which caused too much scrambling to cover and then they were shooting open threes.”

The Hornets will now head north to face the Wizards again for their first In-Season Tournament game on Friday, Nov. 10 starting at 7 PM ET in Washington, DC. Follow all the action on Bally Sports Southeast and WFNZ 92.7 FM.

Miller Makes First NBA Start; Charlotte Begins Game Well, But Can’t Sweep Back-to-Back

Another solid start and a dynamic performance from their star point wasn’t enough for the Charlotte Hornets in their first back-to-back closer of the season, ending with a hard-fought 124-118 road loss in Dallas on Sunday night.

LaMelo Ball completely stuffed the statsheet and then some in the loss, finishing with a game-high 30 points – 23 in the fourth quarter – on 11-of-23 shooting, 10 rebounds and 13 assists, 11 of which came in the first half. Ball’s 10th career triple-double is also the second regular season 30-point triple-double in franchise history and first since Anthony Mason’s on March 31, 2000 (Baron Davis also notched one in the NBA Playoffs on April 27, 2002, in Orlando).

A 57.4% shooting percentage in the first half with only five turnovers helped the Hornets to a 62-50 lead at the break, but Dallas won the third by 11 to enter the fourth down by one. The Mavericks finally pulled ahead a couple minutes into the closing frame, but the visitors just continued to hang around. A 4-0 spurt in the final minute drew the Hornets to within three and after a Dallas shot clock violation, they had a chance to tie it with eight seconds to go. Charlotte couldn’t connect on the ensuing in-bounds though, leading to a game-sealing five-second call.

Despite Ball’s fourth-quarter heroics, Dallas still won the final 12 minutes, 41-34, after shooting 61.9% and 11-of-13 from the charity stripe (84.6%). Luka Dončić – the NBA’s leading scorer coming into the contest – had a relatively so-so night for his lofty standards, eventually coming alive in the fourth with 10 points, three rebounds, and four assists.

“We had a lot of guys that played great,” said Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford following the loss. “LaMelo was terrific and he’s getting into rhythm. We tried to change coverages [on Dončić]. We tried four or five different things. He just destroyed us. They had 10 assists [in the fourth], but he created almost their entire offense, and we couldn’t stop them. We’ll take tomorrow off because of the back-to-back. That will give us a day to study things and prioritize what we need to work on.”

Mark Williams racked up 19 points on a perfect 8-of-8 shooting and 10 rebounds for his first double-double since Opening Night, while PJ Washington and Gordon Hayward each scored 20 points. Brandon Miller had seven points on 3-of-12 shooting in his first career NBA start filling in for the injured Terry Rozier (left groin strain). As a team, Charlotte shot 49.0%, but struggled again from behind the arc (8-of-31, 25.8%) and at the charity stripe (12-of-21, 57.1%), after going 23-of-23 in Indiana on Saturday evening.

Dončić (23 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists) was a dime away from joining Ball in the triple-double club. Grant Williams and Kyrie Irving each had 18 points, and rookie center Dereck Lively II double-doubled with 15 points and 14 rebounds to help the Mavericks snap a three-game head-to-head losing streak to Charlotte.

The Hornets will have another couple of days off before hosting the Washington Wizards on Wednesday, Nov. 8 beginning at 7 PM ET at Spectrum Center. Follow all the action on Bally Sports Southeast and WFNZ 92.7 FM.

Charlotte’s Defense Gets Blasted by Rockets’ 21 3-Pointers, 27 PTS Allowed Off Turnovers

Falling behind at the start of games has been an early-season problem for the Charlotte Hornets, and one that reared its ugly head again in Wednesday night’s 128-119 road loss to the Houston Rockets.

PJ Washington was the brightest offensive spot for the Hornets in their third straight defeat, finishing with a game-high-tying 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting, which included a near-perfect 5-of-6 clip from 3-point range. Terry Rozier added another 21 points on 10-of-21 shooting, giving himself four consecutive 20-point showings to begin the season.

A 25-9 first quarter-closing-run helped put Houston ahead by 18 halfway through the second, before Charlotte returned serve with a 23-7 stretch to enter the break down by only three. The Rockets immediately fired back with a 16-5 spurt to open the third and soon took an eight-point advantage into the fourth. The deficit would get trimmed to five with 2:41 to go, but the Hornets conceded points on their final six defensive possessions to seal the loss.

Late flurry aside, the Hornets got absolutely crushed by Houston’s 21-of-37 3-point barrage (56.8%) and committed 16 turnovers – seven in the first quarter – for 27 total points going the other way. They did use their size advantage to win the glass, 44-38, but constantly lost track of the Rockets on defense all night long, both in the halfcourt and transition.

“The turnovers hurt us,” said Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford afterwards. “The thing that obviously stands out is the readiness to start the game and in the third quarter. We’re down double digits early again. We shot 50 percent from the field and 41 percent from 3-point on the road and lost. That’s crazy. Our defense was awful. From our pick-and-roll coverages to just mistakes, stuff we worked on for two days and they made us pay. In this league, you can’t pick and choose when you’re going to do coverages, not do coverages, do your job, not do your job.”

LaMelo Ball continued to shake off some rust throughout the opening three quarters (six points on 2-of-8 shooting, four assists, three turnovers), finally finding a spark in the fourth (13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, 2-of-2 from 3-point range, zero turnovers). It’s easy to forget how much time Ball’s missed over the past year, but hopefully, this little surge was a good sign of things to come. Added Clifford, “He played a little better. He’s getting there. Mark [Williams] is the same way. They’re just not there yet.”

All five Houston starters scored at least 17 points: Jalen Green (23), Fred VanVleet (22, 5-of-10 from 3-point range), Dillon Brooks (20), Alperen Şengün (19) and Jabari Smith Jr. (17). Six different Rockets players all hit multiple 3-pointers, helping the team notched its first victory of the season under new Head Coach Ime Udoka.

The Hornets will have a couple days off before another road game against the Indiana Pacers on Saturday, Nov. 4 starting at 7 PM ET. Catch all the action on Bally Sports Southeast and WFNZ 92.7 FM.

Washington Scores 25 PTS, Miller Makes Timely Shots in NBA Debut, Charlotte Controls Glass

While it might not have been the prettiest or cleanest season opener they’ve ever played, the Charlotte Hornets came together over the final few minutes for a 116-110 home victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night.

Leading the way for the victors was PJ Washington, who poured in a game-high 25 points – a threshold he hit nine times last season – on 12-of-18 shooting, five rebounds and two assists. Terry Rozier was right behind him with 24 points – 11 in the second quarter, then nine in the fourth – five rebounds and six assists.

Atlanta led by 11 in the second quarter, shortly before Charlotte closed the frame on an 11-3 run to enter the break down, 52-51. The Hornets crashed the glass hard in the third to take a five-point lead into the fourth, eventually finding themselves down by two with five minutes to go. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Washington and Brandon Miller began a 14-6 run to swing a 109-103 advantage back Charlotte’s way. Trae Young cut it to one possession with a late off-balance 3-pointer, a shot that was soon countered by Rozier’s game-icing floater at the other end.

“A lot of guys made good plays, big plays in the fourth quarter there,” said Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford afterwards. “The biggest thing for me was, there’s nothing more important than when we’re down 11, we competed hard. I thought the whole game, our effort was so good. I just liked our attitude. We fought hard, we hung in the game, down 11, kept playing. We did the same thing in the second half. There’s nothing more important than how hard you play.”

LaMelo Ball overcame a 0-of-9 start to finish with 15 points and 10 assists, good for the third such 15-10 season-opening statline in franchise history (Raymond Felton, 2007; Muggsy Bogues, 1992). Mark Williams also double-doubled with 13 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, the most boards by a Hornet in a season-opener since 2017 (Dwight Howard). And after some early foul trouble, Miller capped off his NBA debut by scoring 13 points, eight of which came on a trio of big fourth-quarter shots.

“I had a lot of fun when both went through the net,” said the rookie Miller, when asked about his two momentum-shifting fourth-quarter 3-pointers. “I think the crowd loved it. I think it was just enjoying the moments with my teammates and getting the win was the best part. I think tonight it’s probably going to settle in when I go to sleep. I’m definitely going to feel it tomorrow morning. Just going to be coming in here, working hard and getting better.”

As a team, the Hornets won the glass, 51-42 (42-28 from the second quarter on), which helped overcome 19 turnovers that went for a relatively manageable 17 Atlanta points. This victory also marks the second time in team history that the Hornets have won three consecutive season-openers and the first time doing so since 1999-2001.

Atlanta’s Young never really got going in this one, ending the night with 23 points on 4-of-19 shooting (1-of-9 from 3-point range, 14-of-15 from the line) and nine assists. The two-time NBA All-Star actually had more turnovers (five) than made baskets (four), the latter of which would have matched his fourth-lowest single-game total last season. Third-year reserve forward Jalen Johnson added onto the Hawks’ total with a career-high 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting.

The Hornets will look to start 2-0 when they host the Detroit Pistons on Friday, Oct. 27 beginning at 7 PM ET at Spectrum Center. Follow all the action on Bally Sports Southeast and WFNZ 92.7 FM.

Charlotte Finally Holds Off Late Rally, Thanks to Pair of Last-Minute Defensive Stops

One of the highest-scoring preseason performances in recent franchise history helped the Charlotte Hornets notch a 117-115 home victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday evening.

PJ Washington, who absolutely exploded for a career-high 43 points in Oklahoma City this past March 28, picked up where he left off with a game-high 31 points on 13-of-18 shooting (5-of-8 3-point range), three rebounds and two assists in just 24 minutes. Washington’s point total is the highest by a Charlotte player in a preseason contest since Gerald Wallace had 34 against Atlanta way back on Oct. 18, 2007.

Holding a five-point lead at the break, the Hornets nearly doubled their advantage over the next 12 minutes by outscoring Oklahoma City, 31-26, while forcing seven turnovers in the third quarter. The cushion spiked to 16 early in the fourth, but Oklahoma City rallied to get within one with less than a minute to go. But that would be it for the visitors, as RJ Hunter beautifully contested a driving layup attempt by Aaron Wiggins and on the next Thunder possession, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl rolled an open potential game-tying layup right off the rim at the buzzer.

“More balance,” said Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford after the game, when asked about the third quarter. “The second quarter, we played good offense and no defense. In the third quarter, we were much better. [Oklahoma City] spreads you out. They’re five out and they’re playing skilled centers all the time. Obviously, PJ shot the ball from range well. The bigger thing to me is his talk on defense. He’s an organizer and has a great awareness on the court of what should happen. In the third quarter, I thought he was the one who kind of got the defense ramped up.”

Said Washington, “For me, I was just trying to get a rhythm, be aggressive and take good shots. Credit to my teammates for finding me in good spots. Just tried to make as many as possible. [In the first half], they were getting a lot of backdoors. We’ve just got to be better and talk on the defensive end. In the third quarter, everybody was more connected and ready for the backdoors and everything they came out with.”

Terry Rozier (19), LaMelo Ball (16; 12 coming in the second quarter) and Mark Williams (11) each also had double-digit scoring performances in the win. All five Charlotte starters, which included Brandon Miller (eight points, team-high-tying seven rebounds) for the second straight game, played at least 22 minutes and notched a +9 or better in the plus-minus category.

On the injury front, Bryce McGowens exited the game in the second quarter after re-rolling and spraining the same left ankle that caused him to miss the start of training camp earlier this month. Added Clifford, “He re-sprained his ankle. He’s got a boot on it now and I’m sure they’ll do an MRI on it probably tomorrow, and we’ll find out.”

Jaylin Williams and Tre Mann both had a team-high 18 points for Oklahoma City, with Wiggins right behind them in the scoring department at 16 points. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Jalen Williams, Luguentz Dort, Chet Holmgren, Kenrich Williams, Isaiah Joe, and Aleksej Pokuševski were all either rested or out with injury for the Thunder.

The Hornets will close out their preseason schedule against the Boston Celtics on Thursday, Oct. 19 beginning at 7 PM ET at Spectrum Center. Catch all the action on Bally Sports Southeast and WFNZ 92.7 FM.