The Charlotte Hornets carried out a 135-117 win against a Los Angeles Lakers team that had 10 more wins than them before the bout. It probably wasn't the outcome many had expected, as LaMelo Ball acknowledged after the game. However, Ball did say that the Hornets will "keep going and try to stack" more dubs.
Other teams that might come across Melo's message shouldn't just ignore it. The Hornets have been a pretty formidable matchup, especially when their offense is clicking.
Racking up convincing wins
It was only five games ago when they handily defeated the league-leading Oklahoma City Thunder on the road. They weren't even at full strength then. Three contests later, they notched a historic 150-95 victory over the Utah Jazz.
Charlotte could have won the two matches between those dubs. However, it gave up one-possession losses to the Toronto Raptors and Indiana Pacers. Had those meetings ended in the Hornets' favor, they would have secured a five-game win streak, and their record would stand now at 17-24.
Their recent stretch only shows how capable they are of upsetting opponents that are higher in the standings. The next two contests will be a great test for the Hornets, as they will conclude their five-game Western Conference road trip with visits to the Golden State Warriors and Denver Nuggets.
Blowing out the West contender
If the Lakers thrashing is any indication, Buzz City should have good chances of beating the Warriors and Nuggets.
For a while on Thursday, it looked like the Hornets were going to have a tough outing, falling to a 39-30 hole after the first quarter. However, they gradually took control of the match.
Ball displayed a playmaking master class in front of two of the league's premier facilitators, Luka Doncic and LeBron James. He dished out seven assists in the first half. The California native continued to put on a show in the second half, where he sank eight of his nine 3-pointers. He ended up leading all Hornets scorers with 30 and logged a game-high 11 dimes.
While Ball was Charlotte's best player on Thursday, he had plenty of help from his teammates. Four of the squad's starters, Ball, Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, and Miles Bridges, combined for 100 points, while reserves Ryan Kalkbrenner and Sion James had nine points apiece.
Disrupting the playoff race
The Lakers' loss might not be that impactful in their aspirations this year now that it happened near the halfway point of the campaign. They still hold the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference and are within three games of a top-two playoff spot.
However, it would have been a different story if Los Angeles were jockeying for position in the playoff race late in the season. Interestingly, the Hornets have displayed the potential to dash other teams' hopes of clinching a favorable seeding in April.
Of course, it would be better if they could crash the party and enter the postseason race. They are just four games out of a play-in berth. But if such a goal proves unreachable for Charlotte, it could still provide some entertainment by spoiling the goals of some clubs that will make it to the postseason.