Charlotte Hornets: Youth the only positive from LAL loss

The Charlotte Hornets may have suffered a blowout loss to the Lakers on Saturday night, but the play of Miles Bridges and Malik Monk were definite positives.

It was a rough night for Charlotte Hornets fans.

For starters, the team looked pretty bad during a 28-point loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. They simply couldn’t stop the Lakers at all, which led to the duo of LeBron James and Lonzo Ball each picking up a triple-double.

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In fact, LeBron and Lonzo became the sixth duo to ever record a triple-double in the same game. It was a special performance and a horrible loss for the Hornets, but a loss that they need to put in the rear view mirror.

To make matters worse, the Charlotte Hornets didn’t just lose a basketball game. Saturday’s game against Los Angeles was sideline reporter Stephanie Ready’s last game with the team. Her departure was emotional, and I couldn’t help but frown when I saw her with tears in her eyes saying goodbye.

Of course, we here at Swarm and Sting wish Stephanie the best in her future endeavors. We’ll miss her here in Charlotte, but she’ll kick butt wherever she is.

Now, getting back to the game… Yeah, it was ugly. What do you expect from a 28-point loss? It was a tough night for just about everyone, except for the two youngsters, Miles Bridges and Malik Monk.

The play of those two is the lone positive that I take away from this game. It’s just one game, but they showed flashes of their brilliance, and will give the fans hope not only right now, but for the future as well.

Bridges was aggressive from the moment he entered the ball game, hitting shots from the perimeter and using his athleticism to get into the paint and make things happen. Bridges, perhaps, had some extra motivation playing tonight, considering he was going up against LeBron James. They are friends and both share the same agent.

The rookie out of Michigan State ended up with a career-high 17 points on the night. He shot 5-13 from the field, 2-6 from three-point range, and 5-6 from the free-throw line. This was, possibly, the best game of Bridges’ young career.

He wasn’t the only impressive player on the court for Charlotte, as second-year player Malik Monk was also very active. Monk had 19 points and five rebounds in 27 minutes off the bench.

Monk has been playing some better basketball in the month of December, chipping in 9.2 points off the bench. He’s such a threat offensively, so you love to see him playing with confidence and aggression.

I know, the loss was horrendous, and it’s hard to take away anything positive from it. However, these two showed up tonight, and they deserve some credit. These are two former lottery picks that have some big time upside, and it’s nice to see them making an impact early in their careers.