Charlotte Hornets: Takeaways from Haywards career night and win over Hawks

With impressive offensive production, the Hornets controlled the tempo.

Yes, Gordon Hayward dropped a career-high of 44 points and shot 60 percent from the field, but the entire team brought offensive craftiness to the table for Charlotte. Obviously, coming into the season fans were uncertain of the real value of Hayward’s contract but there are flashes where I think, wow, is he really worth this much? Now he isn’t worth that huge contract just yet but it is encouraging to see him playing some of the best basketball of his career.

LaMelo Ball was able to bring in some needed production with 16 points, eight boards and five dimes in the contest. Ball was through and through a great player tonight while shooting 50 percent coming off the bench. LaMelo only logged 23 minutes, which makes his stat line all the more impressive.

As expected Terry Rozier continued his improvement while logging 14 points and a pair of steals. Rozier’s performance should have been the final piece in the puzzle of which guard would start alongside LaMelo’s inevitable starting role. Rozier has just been the better player all year and his hard work will begin to pay off.

Charlotte was also better on defense. Not only did Trae Young commit seven turnovers and the Hornets tallied nearly double the amount of steals than the Hawks. With Charlotte’s eight blocks compared to the one by Atlanta, defensively Swarm City dominated tip to finish.

Now, let’s look at some of the negative takeaways.