The Hornets are fresh off a win against the OKC Thunder that brought their record up to 26-20 on the season. The Hornets looked in control almost the whole contest, and everything that is exciting about this Charlotte squad was on display Friday night. Over halfway through the season, Charlotte looks every bit like a team destined to make some noise in the playoffs. Here are the three biggest reasons why these Hornets are different and why teams won’t want to see them come playoff time:
1. The Ascension of Miles Bridges
This past offseason, Charlotte offered Miles Bridges a contract extension that he ultimately turned down. This happened because he was betting on himself being worth more than the dollar amount they offered. Almost exactly like John Collins in Atlanta, Bridges was right. After steady growth and improvement through his first three seasons in the league, Miles Bridges in his fourth year is averaging 20 points a game along with 7 rebounds, 3.5 assists, plus a block and steal. He’s doing this while almost netting 50% of his shots from the field, and playing the most minutes per game in his career.
More importantly, he’s become dependable and comfortable as a three-level scorer. His work ethic and competitive fire have never been in question, and now his offensive game is polished enough to consistently make life hard on opponents. He’ll need a new contract this offseason, and every team in the league will be keeping an eye on a do-it-all 23 year-old wing who dunks his way onto the highlight reel every night. Miles Bridges has a case for most-improved player and maybe even a case to be an all-star. Bet on Bridges to continue being special down the stretch.
2. Offensive Firepower
What you need to know here is: the Charlotte Hornets have FIVE players that currently average 16.5 points per game or higher. Miles Bridges, LaMelo Ball, Gordon Hayward, Kelly Oubre Jr., and Terry Rozier. That’s unheard of (many recent Jazz teams have been close). Teams would kill to have that kind of offensive production across a group of players and it makes game-planning against this squad a nightmare for opposing coaches. Two guards and three forwards capable of scoring from anywhere on the court and potentially exploding for a huge night. All of these players aside from Kelly Oubre have achieved their career high in scoring in Hornets Head Coach James Borrego’s offensive system. This season alone, Miles Bridges scored 38 in a game (career-high), Gordon Hayward had 41, (career-high 44 last season), and LaMelo set his career-high at 36.
Scary Terry poured in a career-high 43 points last year for this very team, and has ten 25+ point outings on the year. Throw in Kelly Oubre setting Hornets bench scoring records, PJ Washington’s ability to get hot, and you get the second best scoring offense in the NBA (114 points per game). This ties into the last strength that sets this team apart from the Hornets of yesteryear:
3. Depth
GM Mitch Kupchak deserves a lot of credit for building up this roster and finding the right coach to help maximize it. A big part of the reason the Hornets are in a decent position in the standings (if the playoffs started today the Hornets would be in as the 7th seed) is the amount of quality players down the roster. You have 10 players that are unquestionably NBA-level contributors and that doesn’t include rookie James Bouknight who seems ready to go every time he’s called upon. In the current NBA, where extended absences from games are common, this absolutely factors into how competitive a team can remain. There’s no way of knowing when illness or a big injury is in the cards, but Charlotte is built to weather the storm.
You can see how this makes James Borrego’s job easier when the team isn’t getting what it needs from those on the court. Need some tenacity on the wing? Plug Cody Martin in. Need a little size in the middle? Mason Plumlee is perfectly capable of playing big minutes and helping the team. Ish Smith can provide a spark and run the offense if needed. Having PJ, KO, Martin, and McDaniels on the bench ready to help in multiple ways gives Charlotte flexibility that they just haven’t had in years past. Look for this to continue to benefit the team as the playoff picture gets clearer.
If at any point down the stretch this season Cleveland begins to slide, know that Charlotte will be aggressively breathing down their necks for that 6th seed in the Eastern Conference standings. Grabbing the 6th seed would keep Charlotte from being in the play-in tournament at the end of the regular season. These Hornets are ready for their non-refundable ticket to the postseason. Stats are sourced from basketball-reference.com and thank you for reading.
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