The Charlotte Hornets registered their biggest win early in the 2024-25 campaign on Friday. Impressively, it came against last season's Eastern Conference Finalist, the Indiana Pacers.
Despite the Hornets securing the 103-83 blowout, they looked dead in the water midway into the third quarter. With 6:06 remaining in the period, they faced a 64-51 deficit and had just an 8.5 percent probability of winning the game based on ESPN's projection.
However, Brandon Miller was again Charlotte's knight in shining armor, carrying his squad on his shoulders from that point until the end of the stanza by scoring 17 of Charlotte's 23 points. The team's defense also deserves credit, as it held the Pacers to just two points.
LaMelo Ball is this season's king of the 4th quarter
Up 74-66 entering the final period, the Hornets were still not out of the woods. After all, Indiana's offense remains potent, even as it has struggled in that department this year.
Enter LaMelo Ball.
The Hornets star couldn't buy a bucket in the first three quarters, as he was 5-20 from the field entering the fourth. He was able to turn the page, though, scoring 17 in the last 12 minutes of the match on 5-9 shooting to finish the evening with 31 points.
It appears Ball enjoys dominating opponents in the clutch, as he has quietly led the league in fourth-quarter scoring in the 2024-25 campaign. His 11.1 points per game in the period outpaces the marks of Cam Thomas, Jimmy Butler, and Kevin Durant.
Hopefully, the 2022 All-Star can keep up that pace. By doing so, he will end up shattering the record set by Russell Westbrook in the 2016-17 season when the former Oklahoma City Thunder superstar recorded 10.0 points per contest in the fourth stanza. Not even Michael Jordan, LeBron James, or Kobe Bryant reached that threshold in the regular season. It's worth noting that NBA.com's data dates back to only as far as the 1996-97 campaign.
Perhaps Jordan in his earlier years in the league and definitely Wilt Chamberlain had averaged more points in the fourth quarter. Even so, what Ball has accomplished so far is still awe-inspiring. And he hasn't even been chucking the ball that much in the late game, as he is shooting 58.2 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from long distance during the final period.
The Hornets will certainly need the 23-year-old star to continue delivering in crunch time, especially since getting to a slow start has been a recurring theme for the squad this season.