Given how the Charlotte Hornets' roster has been constructed, it stands to reason that they have to push the pace to field a dominant offense. As it turns out, the Hornets don't need to play fast to be a high-scoring team. Instead, they have used sublime ball movement and shot clock management on their way to a scorching-hot January.
As Kelly Iko of Yahoo Sports noted, the Hornets' pace is near the bottom in the league, and they are playing at nearly the same pace as last season despite the increased availability of LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller. In addition, the squad ranks 23rd in average time to shoot.
Where Charlotte leads the league is in total distance traveled on offense. That means its players are always moving, always relocating. Iko pointed out that, "This team plays at its own tempo, grinding down the shot clock until the best shot is taken."
No need for a high-octane offense
The fact that the Hornets have deliberately taken it slow on the floor may seem counterproductive. After all, seeing Ball operate on the open court has been a treat to watch. He has already established great chemistry with Miller and Miles Bridges, with his alley-oop connections with his teammates a regular feature of the squad's highlight-reel plays. An underrated touch in its fastbreak plays has been Kon Knueppel's ability to find an open spot beyond the arc or a clear path to the rim.
Despite all that, the Hornets have actually been one of the worst this season in fastbreak points. Only five teams have averaged fewer.
Fortunately, Charlotte remains one of the hottest clubs in the league on offense. It has regressed a bit this February, eclipsing the 110-point mark just once in five games. Still, it's hard to ignore its feat of registering the best offense in January.
Charles Lee certainly deserves credit for how the Hornets' offense has evolved and for getting the players to buy into his "collective concept," as Iko put it. He has been able to take advantage of Ball's court vision and Miller and Knueppel's versatility. Bridges has also willingly taken a step back and deferred to his teammates, resulting in efficient scoring on most nights. It has also helped that Lee has decided to unleash Diabate, whose ability to clean the glass has allowed the Hornets to rank among the league leaders in second-chance points.
A minor problem has been the lack of scoring and playmaking juice from their second unit. There's little reason to sweat it, though, because Lee has just proven that if he has the roster pieces to work with, he can create a masterpiece. Once Coby White has fully recovered from his calf strain and gotten up to speed on Charlotte's playbook, the rest of the NBA should be even warier of Buzz City.