The Charlotte Hornets are already feeling the weight of LaMelo Ball's absence. Their past two losses have shown how much they need the star to carry them in crunch time, and his heroics are perhaps their best bet to have a chance of reversing their fortunes this season.
Against the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday, the Hornets held a 93-87 margin entering the fourth quarter. However, New Orleans outscored them 29-19 in the final 12 minutes to record its first win of the 2025-26 campaign. It was certainly a frustrating turn of events for the Hive, as it could have been the squad's last winnable game in a long while. Unfortunately, the Hornets turned the ball over eight times in the fourth and shot just 42.1 percent from the field.
Not even a three-day break was enough for Charlotte to recover, as it looked listless on defense versus the Miami Heat on Friday, giving up 53 points in the opening period. It managed to cut the lead to 66-65 in the second quarter and was still within striking distance (94-88) entering the fourth stanza. While the Hornets took better care of the ball, they hit a mere 31.8 percent of their field-goal attempts in the final period.
Would Ball's presence have made a difference in both defeats? It's hard to say for certain, especially since the point guard has not been all that consistent in the clutch this season. On the one hand, the Hornets are clearly more competitive late in contests with him on the floor than off it.
Hornets don't have a closer without LaMelo Ball
The bad news for Charlotte is that Ball's availability for its next match is still unknown at this point. The team would benefit immensely from his healthy return, as it is slated to host the Los Angeles Lakers, who are two games behind the top seed in the Western Conference, on Monday.
Perhaps it's time for the Hornets to start learning how to hedge against Ball's absence, especially if he can't prove that he doesn't deserve to be described as an injury-prone star. The problem is that they don't appear to have the necessary personnel to fare better in crunch time.
Brandon Miller is dealing with his own injury concerns. Kon Knueppel has displayed the potential to be reliable down the stretch, but he still has plenty of room for development. Collin Sexton has an uncanny way of drawing fouls, but he is more of a wild card than a dependable clutch player. Miles Bridges and Tre Mann tend to try too much instead of going with the offensive flow.
So, Melo might be Charlotte's only hope for now in arresting the team's skid before its record falls farther from the .500 mark.