The Charlotte Hornets are back on the winning track, defeating the Chicago Bulls in both teams' final matches in the 2025 NBA Cup. The win snapped the Hornets' seven-game losing streak and 10-game skid in the in-season tournament, a bad run that stretches back to 2023. What's more for them, though, is that they wrapped up a dub in the clutch for the first time in six tries this year.
Intriguingly, Charlotte became the last team to secure a victory in clutch situations, defined by the NBA as contests where the score differential is five points or fewer within the last five minutes of the fourth quarter, this season. The squad's four previous wins were blowouts, while it lost in the clutch to the Philadelphia 76ers, New Orleans Pelicans, Toronto Raptors, and Milwaukee Bucks.
Some fans probably would have wanted the Hornets to coast to a comfortable win against Chicago, as an 8-0 run pushed their lead to 13 points with over six minutes remaining in the fourth period. On the other hand, it was probably for the better that the game became close and more exciting in the final minutes, as the outcome showed that they can perform in the clutch.
Hornets got key contributions from their core
It was a momentous victory for Charlotte in some ways, as its past losses were pretty frustrating.
LaMelo Ball started strongly and looked like he was going to break out of his slump after scoring 13 on 5-10 shooting from the field and 3-6 from three in the first half. The torrid shooting didn't last long, as he ended up going 1-9 after intermission and missing all four 3-point attempts after intermission.
Fortunately, his teammates stepped up, including Brandon Miller, who finally shot over 50 percent from the field while putting up a game-high 27 points. Meanwhile, Miles Bridges may have boosted his trade value by extending his streak of scoring in double digits in every match this year and recording 14 of his 22 points in the fourth.
Perhaps what made it more impressive for the Hornets was that they were able to eke out the victory despite Kon Knueppel, who has displayed his capability to take over in crunch time in his rookie campaign, converting just one of his seven field-goal attempts in the final stanza. Collin Sexton helped make up for it with key baskets late, including an and-1, and by complementing Miller and Bridges's scoring production with 21 of his own.
It remains to be seen if the Hornets have turned things around and are ready to be more competitive, particularly in the clutch. It helped, of course, that the starters look healthy, even if Ball and Miller still appear to be under minutes restrictions. The defense was also on another level on Friday, limiting the Bulls to 22 points in the fourth. Hopefully, they can sustain this type of performance in their next bouts.