The Charlotte Hornets came from behind to beat the Toronto Raptors for the second time in less than a week, this time convincingly.

The Summary

Both teams got exactly one possession before the game was delayed about 20 minutes because some strobe lights couldn’t stop strobing. I don’t know if it was because of the break, but both teams struggled to get into a rhythm once the game resumed. The Raptors struggles were less pronounced, so they were able to gradually build a double digit lead in the early parts of the second quarter. The Hornets responded by tightening up on defense and getting more assertive on offense. Miles Bridges and LaMelo Ball got a run started, and the Hornets quickly got into the bonus. They went to the line 16 times in the second quarter alone and converted 13 of those attempts. The Hornets scored 17 straight at one point, which helped them to an 11 point halftime lead.

LaMelo Ball left the game after tweaking his ankle when his foot seemed to get stuck on the floor. The Raptors gained some ground, but a young group of Simpson, Knueppel, McNeeley, Salaün, and Diabate got the momentum back for the visitors. The Hornets were able to carry that momentum through the end of the third and held a four point lead going into the fourth.

The Raptors could not buy a bucket as the fourth quarter got started, and that allowed the Hornets to run away with the game. Threes from Kon Knueppel and KJ Simpson put the Hornets up 17 and forced a Raptors timeout. A couple of Salaün threes put the Hornets up 25 a few minutes later, and that was all she wrote.

The Good

Whatever plan the Hornets had for Tidjane Salaün clearly worked. He has been an entirely different player since he was recalled to Charlotte. He scored 21 points and for the third straight game, the Hornets won his minutes by a significant margin. He simply made a bunch of really good plays. He overplayed a post feed for a steal that led to a bucket. He hit his threes. He got to the line. He locked down on defense. In his three games since he’s been back, he’s averaged 14.7 points in just 22 minutes per game. Hopefully this is a sign that the wait for his development isn’t as long as we thought.

Kon Knueppel matched Tidjane with a team high 21 points, and he chipped in seven assists along with another five 3-pointers made. He got into the paint a lot to open up looks for teammates and had a few last second passes to feed bigs in the dunker spot. And he added a new facet to his game. Early in the first quarter, he had a chase down block to reject a Ja’Kobe Walter dunk attempt.

Seven turnovers is very bad, but KJ Simpson played a really good basketball game. He was credited with four assists and five steals. He drew fouls boxing out for rebounds. He was all over the place causing havoc. He kept the ship steady and even accelerated it when LaMelo Ball had to leave the game. The ball security was the only bugaboo.

The Hornets got to the line 33 times to the Raptors 13. It was well deserved too. I’ve spent a lot of time this season talking about the Hornets being too slow and passive with the ball. That was not a problem in this game. They attacked the basket relentlessly and drew a bunch of fouls just via getting the ball in near the basket, even without getting a shot up. They didn’t get a lot of offensive rebounds, but they drew a lot of loose ball fouls on rebounds. It got sloppy at times, but I’ll take fast mistakes over slow, bad basketball.

The Bad

LaMelo was playing well before the ankle injury, but now we have to wait and see what’s going on with that. Given LaMelo’s typical recovery time for ankle issues, it’s fair to be pessimistic about him potentially missing time, even though it looked pretty minor in the moment.

The Hornets turned the ball over a ton, but the rest of their process was so good that I’m not mad about it.

What’s Next

The Hornets will take a joyous flight back to Charlotte to get ready to host Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets on Sunday.

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