It's taxing to be a Charlotte Hornets fan nowadays. After a franchise-record-setting beating at the hands of the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday, the team had another embarrassing outing, falling to the Sacramento Kings by 42 points on Monday. So, the Hornets have lost their past two games by a combined 95 points, tied for the worst point differential in consecutive contests in league history.
How the Hornets will recover remains to be seen. However, they don't have much time to sulk, as they will match up with a streaking Golden State Warriors squad on Tuesday.
Charlotte might face the Warriors without LaMelo Ball as part of his injury management program since it is the second leg of a back-to-back. But with how things have turned out for the Hornets and their star in the past month, his absence might not matter much.
LaMelo Ball has not led the team in scoring for nearly a month
Not a lot may have noticed that the last time Ball led the Hornets in scoring was Jan. 25, when they routed the New Orleans Pelicans and their floor general put up team-highs 25 points and seven assists. Since then, Miles Bridges has recorded the most points in all but two of the games. Nick Smith Jr. and Moussa Diabate were the leading scorers in the other two contests.
It's worth noting that Ball has made just six appearances, exiting two of them earlier because of injuries, since the Pelicans tiff due to his recovery from his ailment and the week-long All-Star break. He did score 24 against the San Antonio Spurs on Feb. 7, but Bridges outscored him by a point. Then, he had a 27-point outing against the Los Angeles Lakers, only for Bridges to put up more again.
The 2022 All-Star has attested this season that it's never wise to write him off, exhibiting the ability to bounce back from his struggles on the court. But what if his health issues continue to linger and prove to be worse than people expected? What if he is physically well enough, and his performance has actually regressed toward the mean?
The Hornets rely on Ball to produce much of their offense. Bridges has been the only consistent contributor on that end of the floor outside of the star point guard. If Melo can't get his act or his health together, Charlotte might have to endure more beatdowns like the ones it suffered against Portland and Sacramento. The active roster just doesn't have enough reliable shot-creators, more so with Brandon Miller and Tre Mann watching from the sidelines.
Racking up the losses should bode well for the Hornets' dreams of landing a high draft pick this summer. On the flip side, being on the receiving end of blowouts might not be good for team morale.
The organization and its fans then should hope for two things: that Ball will regain his form sooner than later and that lead executive Jeff Peterson has learned his lesson and will look for insurance on the shot-making front this offseason in case the injury bug bites Ball and the squad's top scoring options again next campaign.