The Charlotte Hornets provided fans and the home crowd with a pleasant surprise on Saturday, cruising to their biggest win of the 2024-25 season over the New Orleans Pelicans. The 123-92 beatdown of the visitors snapped their two-game losing skid and marked their largest margin of victory in nearly three years.
It wasn't a wire-to-wire win, although the contest was already decided in the second quarter when Charlotte made a 9-2 run to start the period and go up 40-25. The team didn't look back from there and even went up by as many as 33 points, which was its biggest advantage in this campaign.
There were several heroes for the Hornets. LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges, who suited up for just 30 and 28 minutes, respectively, combined for 47 points.
The bench, which has usually been a weakness this season, showed up, as it collectively scored 53. Moussa Diabate helped aplenty, putting up nine points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
Moussa Diabate had good reason to crash the glass
Mark Williams was a healthy scratch, leaving Charlotte a little thin at center. While Taj Gibson was called upon to replace him in the starting lineup, it was Diabate who soaked up most of the minutes at the five.
The fan favorite has had an uneven campaign so far. He surprised the league with his rebounding prowess during an impressive stretch in November, where he grabbed at least 11 boards in seven of 10 games and averaged 11.2 rebounds in 27.4 minutes per match.
Since then, Diabate has seen limited minutes and several assignments to the G League. He had also failed to log double digits in rebounds in 15 appearances.
So, Bridges crafted a plan to change that.
The former Michigan State University standout issued a challenge to his teammate, telling Diabate that if he couldn't get over 10 boards, he would have to wear a Spartans jersey. That would have been tragic for "The Moose" because he played college hoops for Michigan State's rival, the University of Michigan.
Perhaps that wasn't the only reason Diabate dominated the Pelicans on the boards. He even outclassed Zion Williamson in that department by two rebounds. Crashing the glass and being active on offense and defense are the Frenchman's strengths, so he was probably looking to bounce back from his mediocre performances and showcase his worth to the Hornets.
Hopefully, the organization will respond by rewarding the two-way player with a standard contract. He has proven deserving of a promotion, and Charlotte will undoubtedly benefit from locking up the youngster now.