Thursday saw a tale of two halves for the Charlotte Hornets. After putting on a shooting clinic in the first half against the Atlanta Hawks, they nearly blew the win. It only showed that until the Hornets find a way to improve on defense, losses and frustration can continue to haunt them.
Charlotte had an impressive opening half, scoring 80 behind an NBA-record 18 3-pointers. LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, and Kon Knueppel combined for 12 of those makes. However, a porous defense helped the Hawks keep it close, as they put up 69 points of their own.
The Hornets' offense cooled off after halftime, failing to reach the 30-point mark in each of the final two periods.
Meanwhile, Atlanta slowly crept into the contest. The visiting squad was able to narrow the margin to 122-121 with 2:39 left in the bout before the Hornets' stars showed some composure in the clutch to eke out the 133-126 victory.
Hopefully, Charlotte realizes that trying to outshoot opponents isn't sustainable. It was fortunate to have faced a struggling Hawks team that was trying to reintegrate Trae Young, who had sat out their previous 22 games, into the lineup. Against hotter or stronger matchups, it might not have been able to pull off the win.
So, the Hornets should look for ways to shore up their defense to give them better chances of notching more dubs for the rest of the season. They are only 2.5 games behind a play-in berth, which could provide them with inspiration to clean things up.
Plenty of positives to pick up
Of course, it would be lousy to focus on just the negatives in Buzz City's latest win.
Despite giving up a massive lead, the club was able to perform well in crunch time. Ball, who had 21 points and seven threes in the first half before going quiet in the second, scored seven straight, including a stepback 3-point dagger, for the Hornets after Jalen Johnson's 3-pointer made it 122-121. Knueppel and Miller then closed it off with two free throws apiece.
The three-headed monster also demonstrated how scary they can be when playing together, as the stars combined for 82 points and shone in their own ways. Ball dished out 13 assists, demonstrating how elite a playmaker he is. Miller had several highlight-reel plays, including one of the best posters this season. Knueppel continued to flash his all-around potential and ceiling as a low-maintenance face of the franchise.
Sure, the Hornets' victory over the Hawks was far from perfect. But at least they have something to build on after a disappointing start to the 2025-26 campaign. Let's just pray that no more major injury-related setbacks will derail their progress.