The Charlotte Hornets took part in a back and forth affair with the Philadelphia 76ers and ultimately came up just short.
The summary
The Hornets had to weather a 3-point barrage from the hands of the 76ers in the first half, and the first quarter in particular. Tyrese Maxey hit four threes in that quarter alone, and the 76ers as a team hit nine. They cooled off just a bit in the second, except for Quentin Grimes, who hit a trio of triples during that frame. Joel Embiid bullied and fell into a much better performance than his first game, and the Hornets seemingly didn’t have an answer for him. Despite all that, a spectacular two-way performance from LaMelo Ball and a strong second quarter from Collin Sexton had the Hornets nipping at the 76ers heels heading into halftime.
Miles Bridges, who didn’t make a field goal in the first half, gave himself a successful halftime pep talk and spurred the Hornets to a double digit lead during the third quarter. Joel Embiid only played a few minutes to start the half then was shut down, most likely due to a minutes restriction. The Hornets capitalized and took that double figure lead into the fourth quarter.
The Hornets couldn’t close the door though. Andre Drummond vacuumed in six offensive rebounds as he gave the Hornets fits on the glass and Tyrese Maxey started doing the thing where he dribbled into defenders then threw his arms into them for fouls. Meanwhile the Hornets struggled to shoot from deep and got a little sloppy with the ball. All of that allowed Philadelphia to chip away at the lead over the course of the fourth quarter and set up a back and forth finish. Maxey tied the game with a tough pull-up jumper with a minute to go. After a LaMelo miss, Grimes put the 76ers ahead for good with a three.
The Good
There was a lot of talk about LaMelo’s defense and overall competitiveness over the offseason, and he showed major growth in both of those areas tonight. He was all over the floor defensively in the first half, getting credited with four steals and about 45 deflections in that time. He was all over the floor chasing down loose balls and making saves from out of bounds. A number of his rebounds were in traffic off of tips and amidst chaos. He had a terrific game in terms of offensive production, which we’ve generally become accustomed to, but last night he showed he can also do all the little things that contribute to winning basketball.
The early returns on the rookie class are scintillating. Kon Knueppel was a bit more aggressive and finished with 14 points. He’s now 6-of-10 from three on the season. Ryan Kalkbrenner has scored 24 points with one missed shot through two games. Sion James has popped up at a couple points in each of the first two games to make plays that swing momentum in favor of the Hornets. And Liam McNeeley hasn’t even played yet. The 2025 draft looks like a true masterclass by Jeff Peterson and company.
Speaking of masterclass acquisitions, the fact that the Hornets got Collin Sexton and a pick from the Jazz for Jusuf Nurkic is never going to make any sense. He’s been electric.
The Bad
Brandon Miller left the game during the second quarter in obvious discomfort and did not return. The team called it a sore left shoulder, but that’s all we know for now. I didn’t see what play specifically he got hurt on, and it’s hard to find anything on Twitter through all the people complaining about their parlay getting shafted by Miller’s injury. Oh the agony.
I’m going to complain about this a lot this season, so brace yourself. The NBA has to figure out a better way to officiate offensive players foul baiting. Maxey attempted 12 free throws in the fourth quarter alone, and very few of them felt like he was fouled during attempts to make legitimate basketball plays. A fair few of them were him driving into moving defenders and then throwing his arms into their path to get the whistle. Even if the officials don’t deem them shooting fouls, that doesn’t matter once the team is in the bonus. Players are getting free throws by drawing fouls via performing actions solely performed to draw fouls. Basketball shouldn’t work like that.
The Hornets have shot below 70% from the free throw line in both of their games this season. That’s going to be tough to overcome in close games like this one. Moussa Diabate was the biggest offender last night going 2-of-7, but he hasn’t been the only problem through two games.
Ryan Kalkbrenner had another good game on the whole, but he did have some welcome to the NBA moments in the fourth quarter. Andre Drummond had his way with Kalkbrenner on the glass, and that was a big element of the 76ers comeback. He’s going to be a good player, but clearly Kalkbrenner is going to want to put some work in the weight room.
Tre Mann was pretty invisible throughout the game. There’ll be better days ahead.
What’s Next
The Hornets are right back at it tonight in Washington for the Wizards’ home opener.
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