Despite losing to the Houston Rockets, the Charlotte Hornets got a lot of production from Cody Martin in his first career start.
Once again, the Charlotte Hornets lost another game due to not playing all four quarters. The Hornets had a clear shot at winning this game, but the team could not hold off the Houston Rockets in the fourth quarter.
In this game, the Hornets decided to start Terry Rozier, Devonte’ Graham, Cody Martin, Miles Bridges, and Cody Zeller. The Hornets also had PJ Washington come off the bench since he’s coming back from an ankle injury.
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One good takeaway was that Cody Martin played well in his first game as a starter. Martin finished with 12 points and five rebounds, making this the second-best game of his rookie season.
It was good for fans to see a starter play with as much energy and effort as Martin did. Just like every game that Martin has played in, he continues to give his 100% while on the court.
Martin received the opportunity to start in this game after his performance against the Orlando Magic on Monday night. Even though Dwayne Bacon started in that game, Martin finished with almost double the amount of minutes that Bacon got.
While Martin has played well in his last two games, he’s done some work in his five previous games all together. In Martin’s last five games, he’s averaged 9.0 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.
Since being drafted in the second round of the 2019 draft, Martin has done nothing but prove doubters wrong. While fans thought Martin would primarily spend a majority of his rookie season in the G-League, he’s actually played in 37 regular-season games.
With his recent play, it’s unclear if Coach James Borrego will continue to use Martin in the starting lineup after Washington looked good enough to start again. If Martin continues to play well, this will put a lot of pressure on Coach Borrego’s future rotational decisions.
The NBA trade deadline is on Thursday, and Martin could get even more minutes depending on if the Hornets make a move and shake up the roster.