Retour
The Charlotte Hornets showed their resilience Saturday night, coming back from a 47-point defeat the night before to beat the Miami Heat. Charlotte dominated Miami for most of the game until the Heat mounted a 21-point comeback in the fourth quarter to tie things up at 100. From there, Charlotte leaned on their veterans, like Grayson Allen and Naz Reid who took control late in the game to help the Hornets earn a needed 115-110 victory.
After scoring six points Friday, Brandon Miller was much more aggressive offensively, scoring 34 points and getting to the free throw line despite missing 19 field goal attempts. Naz Reid, Dennis Schroder and Grayson Allen each scored 20 or more as well, with Allen converting on a clutch four-point play during crunch time. Following the victory, here are three things to take away.
Following Charlotte's 47-point defeat Friday night, Hornets center Moussa Diabate addressed the loss, saying, "Our energy wasn't right." The Hornets completely fixed that issue Saturday, as fans could see increased effort from the team on both ends of the floor. Mitigating turnovers was vital as well. Although Charlotte committed a few sloppy giveaways during Miami's fourth-quarter comeback, they committed 12 fewer than during Friday's game.
Although Miller missed 19 shots, his aggressiveness in getting to his spots boded well for Charlotte. At many different points, Miller created open mid-range jumpers for himself, or earned free throws at the line. While Miller will get more attention from the defense as opposed to last year (especially with Coby White and Kon Knueppel sidelined), it's his responsibility to lead the charge on offense.
In the absence of White and Knueppel, Charlotte is in need of another player who can create their own shot and change the pace. When able to score, Dennis Schroder fits that bill. With 10 minutes left in the third quarter, Schroder had already scored 19 points. He finished the contest with 25 points on 8-for-17 shooting to go along with six rebounds and four assists. Schroder, who only took five shots against the Hawks, could afford to hoist more attempts, especially considering the team's current injuries.