Slight concern engulfed Charles Lee leading into the Charlotte Hornets’ outing at Target Center on Sunday night.
Recalling what areas were problematic in their previous matchups against the Minnesota Timberwolves wasn’t all that hard for the Hornets’ coach.
“Everywhere,” Lee said. “This team has been a handful for us ever since I’ve been here.”
Even without injured stars Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels, that was the case again for a half. But the Hornets are a different bunch these days and that was on display in the second half, when they cruised to a 122-108 victory to keep their hopes for their first home postseason game since 2016 alive.
“Our first half, we didn’t do a good job with our physicality,” Miles Bridges said. “I feel like in the second half we picked up our defensive physicality. It got us going on offense, and it just went from there.
“Just our identity that we have been creating for ourselves.”
Miles Bridges of the Charlotte Hornets. Ishika Samant Getty Images
Charlotte (43-36) remains in eighth place in the Eastern Conference standings, but gained ground on seventh place and trails Toronto by a half game. With three games remaining, the Hornets are a full game ahead of Orlando and 1.5 games in front of 10th-place Miami.
If they have to go on the road, the Hornets have shown they can get it done there as well. Charlotte has rattled off wins in 14 of its past 16 road dates, and its 22 road victories are the franchise’s most since 2001-02. Eight have been by 25 points or more, tying an NBA record.
“The team is making a ton of growth,” Lee said. “You’ve got to be able to play through physicality and I thought we did it on both ends of the floor. We handled it like a really mature group.”
Here’s what else the Hornets had to say of note in Minnesota:
LaMelo Ball of the Charlotte Hornets. Ishika Samant Getty Images How to keep it going in Boston on Tuesday
“Same thing — physicality,” Bridges said. “We came into their place and beat them, they came into our place and beat us. So we want to return the favor and start getting ready for the playoffs.”
How players adapt to LaMelo Ball’s passing ability
“Their willingness to run the floor,” Lee said. “Melo had that insane pass on the break (Friday) to Kon. So, Kon’s willingness to have an inside eye to be running with purpose is something we’ve talked about a ton. And the guys that are getting to the corner, they are creating windows.
“That is another area we’ve gotten better at, where as Melo is driving, as anybody is driving, not just staying still in one spot. Kind of reading where your soft defender is and how can I give a driver a passing window to be able to pass to them. The talent that we have around him is able to finish.”
How the Hornets’ key bench players affect things
“It’s just their ability to change the flow of the game,” Lee said. “I think that those guys coming into the game, the defensive intensity goes up another level when you have Sion (James) out there and Grant (Williams) communicating the way he is. The physicality from Sion, and Grant and Ryan (Kalkbrenner) … the same thing.
Coby White of the Charlotte Hornets. Ishika Samant Getty Images
“You can hear them constantly during the game yelling out pick-and-roll coverages, and off-ball screens. That defensive side of the ball goes up. Offensively, they all just do a good job of staying within who they are and understanding what their value is in terms of being great connectors.”
This story was originally published April 5, 2026 at 10:21 PM.
The Charlotte Observer
Roderick Boone joined the Observer in September 2021 to cover the Charlotte Hornets and NBA. In his more than two decades of writing about the world of sports, he’s chronicled everything from high school rodeo to a major league baseball no-hitter to the Super Bowl to the Finals. The Long Island native has deep North Carolina roots and enjoys watching “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” endlessly.
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