Charlotte Hornets: LaMelo Ball Shines in Win Against the Mavericks

The Charlotte Hornets extended their win streak to two games, thanks in part to LaMelo Ball who led the team in scoring.

After coming off of a win against the highly touted Brooklyn Nets, the Charlotte Hornets were hoping to carry some of that momentum into their game against Luka Dončić and the Dallas Mavericks. Their New Years’ gift was granted.

The first quarter was relatively competitive. The Hornets were up by 7 heading into the second quarter, and while the second quarter was relatively better than the first for the Hornets, it was not nearly as good as the third quarter. The Hornets led the Mavericks by 11 heading into the half, a pretty good showing for the young Hornets’ team.

The third quarter was the tone-setting quarter for the rest of the game. At one point in the third quarter, the Hornets went on a 14-0 run. They would finish the quarter outscoring the Mavs 30 to 12.

The fourth quarter was relatively quiet for the Hornets since they were up so big heading into the quarter. The Mavericks outscored the Hornets 30 to 20 in the fourth, but the Hornets were really on mop-up duty at this point in the game. No matter the point differential, the Hornets extended their win streak to two.

While extending their winning streak to two in a row, what was more impressive was the rookie, LaMelo Ball. This was by far Ball’s best game of the year. He was scrappy, he played hungry, he pounded the boards, and just for good measure, he led the team in scoring. He wasn’t afraid to shoot the ball. In the NBA, good scorers sometimes need to exude a lot confidence and that is exactly what LaMelo Ball does. Here’s one of his three-pointers from the game. Notice his confidence.

https://twitter.com/hornets/status/1344474716183130114

LaMelo scored 22 points, going 70% (7/10) from the field and 80% (4/5) from the three-point line. He would also hit all four of his free-throws. He was second to Miles Bridges in rebounds, grabbing 8 and he was also tied with Devonte’ Graham for first on the team in assists, totaling 5 apiece.

Miles Bridges came in second in scoring, totaling 20 points, hitting 66.7% from the field (6/9) and from beyond the three-point line( 4/6). He had a double-double, leading the team in rebounds, grabbing 16 boards, and just like LaMelo, he hit all four of his free-throws.

Terry Rozier came in third in scoring, totaling 18 points in 30 minutes of play. He hit 47.1% (8/17) from the field and 28.6% (2/7) from three. Both PJ Washington and Gordon Hayward scored 11 points and Devonte’ Graham scored 9. Another great thing to see was Jalen McDaniels having some success on the court. He scored 10 points, going 80% (4/5) from the field and 50% (1/2) from the three-point line.

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One of the keys to the Hornets’ success heading into the game was to slow down Luka Dončić. If you slow Luka down, you slow the entire Maverick’s team down. In this game, Dončić only scored 12 points in 24 minutes of play, and just to put things into perspective, in his first three games of the season, Dončić averaged 27.7 points per game. The Hornets held him to 40% from the field, only hitting 4 out of 10, and he went 0 for 5 from the three-point line. The Hornets made Dončić look mortal.

Another thing the Hornets had to do in order to give themselves a good chance at winning the ball game, was to beat the Mavs down low. Essentially, they needed to outrebound them and have more points in the paint. The Hornets did both.

The Hornets scored 44 points in the paint, compared to the Mavericks’ 42 points. It’s not significant but nonetheless, this was important in beating the Mavericks. The more impressive stat was the out rebounding between the two teams. The Hornets totaled 50 rebounds, whereas the Mavericks only totaled 39.

Overall, the Hornets played their second consecutive game where their team chemistry was on point and where they played an entire 48 minutes of winning basketball. I’ve said it since the preseason, if the Hornets play up to their potential and their chemistry is on point, they are a tough team to beat. Don’t believe me? Ask Kevin Durant and Luka Dončić.

The Charlotte Hornets will look to bring that win streak up to three games when they host the Memphis Grizzlies on New Years Day. Until then, rest well knowing that they Charlotte Hornets are sitting at the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference.