The Charlotte Hornets' scrappy win over the Detroit Pistons brought up all kinds of emotions among fans. The game went down the wire, and for a while, it seemed like the Hornets were going to lose a fourth consecutive time.
LaMelo Ball reeled off five straight points late in the fourth quarter to put his team up 106-103. However, the Pistons responded with two field goals to go up by one.
With 3.0 seconds left on the clock, Grant Williams missed a go-ahead 3-pointer. Thankfully, Brandon Miller managed to corral the offensive rebound and sank the game-winning putback to beat the buzzer.
Studs and duds from the Hornets' close win over the Pistons
Fortunately for Charlotte, Ball and Miller bailed them out in the waning seconds of the meeting with Detroit. Of course, Wednesday won't be the last time fans see the pair take over in crunch time, especially since they are the Hornets' go-to guys.
Still, it's worth noting they weren't the only ones to play well against the Pistons. Below are three Hornets who performed as or better than expected (and three who didn't).
Hero: LaMelo Ball
An underlying storyline of the Hornets-Pistons bout was the battle between two of the league's best young point guards. However, it looked like Cade Cunningham was on his way to outperforming Ball handily in the evening before the 2022 All-Star picked it up in the fourth quarter.
He shot 6-12 from the field in the final period, sinking three long-range bombs to finish the contest with 25 points, six rebounds, and eight assists.
Perhaps the most impressive part of Ball's performance was committing just two turnovers and three fouls. It remains to be seen if he has finally gotten over the weaknesses that have plagued his otherwise impressive season so far. But the Hornets undoubtedly benefitted from his taking care of the ball and staying out of foul trouble.
Zero: Josh Green
Josh Green isn't expected to fill the stat sheet on most nights, as his primary role on offense alongside the other starters is to space the floor and serve as a secondary shot creator. But laying an egg isn't part of his duties, for sure.
The 3-and-D swingman couldn't buy a bucket on Wednesday and didn't contribute much else in the box score. His defense, though, made a world of difference for Charlotte, as he helped limit Cunningham to 9-23 shooting.
Coach Charles Lee still trusted Green enough in crunch time, giving him the responsibility of inbounding the ball in the last possession of the match.
Hero: Brandon Miller
To say that the season so far has been underwhelming for Miller would be an understatement. Before the regular season started, many expected the sophomore to make the leap. Instead, he sustained an injury that kept him out for four games and may have affected his shot. His field goal percentage is currently 35.4 percent.
The good news is that Miller has delivered some highlight-reel plays and just had his best game of the campaign.
Despite converting just 37.5 percent of his shots versus Detroit, he still finished with 19 points, six rebounds, and four assists. The 2024 Rookie of the Year finalist did commit three turnovers, including a crucial fumble that led to a Pistons fastbreak, which had Charlotte trailing 107-106. It didn't take long for Miller to vindicate himself, though.
BRANDON MILLER PUTBACK FOR THE WIN 😱 pic.twitter.com/U2M13xiuXU
— NBA TV (@NBATV) November 7, 2024
Zero: Seth Curry
Hometown hero Seth Curry was among the Hornets' most productive players in their first handful of contests this year. However, his shot left him against the Pistons. He clanked his pair of attempts from beyond the arc and didn't see much action, suiting up for just 11 minutes.
When Charlotte's guards and wing players are healthy, Curry's playing time will hover just around the 10-minute mark. So, he has to make the most of his opportunity whenever he gets some burn. Hopefully, going 0-2 from the 3-point land and 0-3 from the field wouldn't be a regular occurrence for one of the most efficient sharpshooters ever.
Hero: Miles Bridges
The Hornets may have upended Detroit behind the clutch plays from Ball and Miller. However, Miles Bridges also deserves praise for helping keep Charlotte in the game up to the closing minutes, when his teammates took over.
He scored a team-high 27 points and shot better than 50 percent from the field for the first time this season. He has also been his usual self in giving the Hornets some reinforcement on the boards, hauling in seven rebounds versus the Pistons.
The Wednesday matchup served as a reminder that Bridges can still light it up from the field from time to time despite having taken a back seat to his star teammates, Ball and Miller, to start the 2024-25 campaign.
Zero: Tre Mann
It didn't take long for Tre Mann to generate some Sixth Man of the Year buzz, as he averaged 21.0 points per game off the bench in the Hornets' first five contests.
Unfortunately, his production seems to have regressed to the mean after Miller's return to the lineup. Mann's performance against Detroit was his worst of the young season, scoring just four on a 2-7 shooting clip on Wednesday.
It remains to be seen if he can return to his earlier form or if this is the norm for the 23-year-old combo guard.