10/23 – Charlotte Hornets at Atlanta Hawks
In the 2021 play-in tournament, the Hornets suffered a blowout loss to the Indiana Pacers. They proceeded to sweep the season series in the 2021-22 season.
In the 2022 play-in tournament, the Hornets suffered a blowout loss to the Atlanta Hawks. This matchup marks their first meeting with the Hawks since that fateful night in April and represents Charlotte’s chance to begin righting the wrongs of that night.
After having lost in the 2021 play-in tournament to the Pacers by 27 points, the Hornets posted a copy of the box score from that matchup in their locker room as motivation. They proceeded to lose to the Hawks by 29 points in what turned out to be James Borrego’s final game as the coach of the Hornets.
The Hornets have a motivational piece in their locker room: the box score from their play-in game vs. the Pacers last May pic.twitter.com/tumdSTb9lt
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) January 29, 2022
Miles Bridges‘ disastrous offseason began early as he was ejected from the game after picking up his second technical foul of the night. On his way to the locker room, Bridges launched his mouthpiece into the crowd, which resulted in a young fan being struck by the projectile.
A frustrated Miles Bridges threw his mouthpiece after his second technical foul and hit a young Hawks fan.pic.twitter.com/NR8mLBM80i
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 14, 2022
It was certainly a night to forget for Charlotte. Now, with a new head coach, the Hornets will make their first trip back to Georgia to play their I-85 rivals since that night.