The Charlotte Hornets avenged their January 27th home loss to the Utah Jazz and they also made history. The Hornets defeated the Jazz in Utah for the first time since March 1st, 2006. Miles Bridges and Grant Williams led the way down the stretch with 26 points and 24 points, respectively.
It was an exciting game as the Hornets extended their winning streak to four games. The team is still undefeated since having the new guys play. Here are two key takeaways from last night's win.
1. Miles Bridges Deserves Another Contract
Posting 26 points and 14 rebounds in the win, Bridges led the way in scoring and rebounding for the Hornets. This summer, Bridges will be an unrestricted free agent. However, he has expressed that he'd like to remain in Charlotte with the team and with All-Star point guard LaMelo Ball and it may be in the team's best interest to keep him.
The play that Bridges has exhibited the last couple of games surely warrants a nice lump sum of money coming to Bridges soon. He's scored in double figures in the last nine games including two back-to-back 40 point games against the Lakers and the Raptors.
In the 44 games he's played this season, he's posting averages of 21 points, 3 assists, and 7 rebounds. These are solid numbers, especially from a player that missed the entire 2022-2023 NBA season. Expect to hear big news this summer as fans anticipate what will happen with Bridges.
2. Grant Williams Is Flourishing Under The Hornets' System
Grant Williams has been phenomenal since being acquired by the Hornets via trade in early February. He's only played four games for Charlotte and he's already putting up great numbers. It's safe to say that Williams fits better with Charlotte's system opposed to his former teams in Dallas and Boston.
Williams is averaging 18 points a game, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists, which are career high averages. The way that Charlotte has utilized Williams and his ability to be an exquisite two-way player is interesting to see considering that Dallas has stated that their time with Williams didn't go as expected.
Since joining the team, Williams has scored in double figures in all four games and has been a defensive and three-point threat, hitting six in the win last night. It's unlikely that Williams will ever start in Charlotte since Miles Bridges has been playing exceptionally well. Williams has shown that he can come off the bench and lead the second unit so it will be interesting to see how the rest of the season goes for him and the team as a whole.