LaMelo Ball had one of his best games of the season and a near triple double, but he didn’t get enough help as the Hornets lost to the Knicks.

The Summary

The Hornets played one of the worst first quarters I’ve seen in quite a while. They hoisted up threes on the vast majority of their possessions even though they were not going in. They were not well earned threes either; they were generally settled for early in the shot clock. On top of the passive shot selection, the Hornets committed a number of silly mistakes like:

Tidjane Salaün dropped a pass from Sion James out of bounds when he was wide open for three

The next time up the floor, James looked away as Kon Knueppel passed the ball ahead. It his back and went out of bounds.

The Knicks had a fast break. Both James and Salaün were back, and both left the ball to favor potential passes, leaving an uncontested layup.

Ryan Kalkbrenner caught a pass all alone under the basket, but he didn’t see how open he was, so he kicked it out for one of the Hornets’ many missed threes.

LaMelo Ball tried a rip through move with a defender in his space and had the ball stolen by that very same defender.

All of that amounted to a 12 point first quarter. The deficit grew to as large as 20 in the second quarter, but the Hornets finally started fighting back. The threes finally started falling and the defense got enough stops that the Hornets were able to go on a run to make the game competitive again. They got it to within one possession in the waning moments of the half, but a buzzer beating three by Jalen Brunson put the Knicks back up six.

The teams went back and forth to start the third quarter, but the Hornets’ inability to get stops let the Knicks slowly build their lead back out. By the end of the third, it had ballooned to 15, and it flew past 20 early in the fourth. LaMelo Ball tried to get a comeback started with a 3-point play followed by a 3-pointer then a nifty assist to Sion James for a corner three of his own. A couple possessions later, Ball went back to back with two threes, the second of which came while being fouled. All of that more than halved the Hornets’ deficit. A backdoor lob to Salaün then a kickout to Salaün in the corner from three cut it into single digits. That was short lived though. The Knicks got a three from Deuce McBride and a 3-point play from Jalen Brunson restored some comfort to the Knicks’ advantage, and they rode that to the win.

The Good

LaMelo Ball has joined the party. He had by far his best game since an early season performance against the Wizards with a near triple double with 34 points. He put a lot of shots up, but the volume wasn’t nearly as noticeable as its been in other games. He played strong in the paint and busted out a couple of slow steps in traffic to create easy looks in traffic. The version of LaMelo that showed up last night can win a lot of games with better play from the other main players. The fourth quarter was nothing short of a superstar level performance.

Outside of a couple of facepalm moments in the first quarter, Tidjane Salaün has looked like an NBA player since he got recalled from the Swarm. He scored in double figures for the second straight game, and the Hornets won his minutes on the floor. He had a couple of plays that remind you of what the Hornets saw in him. He had a pair of possessions in the third where he hit Ryan Kalkbrenner with a perfectly timed and placed pass in the pick and roll then stripped Jordan Clarkson off a live dribble on the next defensive possession.

The Hornets rookie class continues to impress. Kon Knueppel didn’t have his best game, but he’s Kon Knueppel. Kalkbrenner came off the bench so he wouldn’t have to spend as much time chasing Karl-Anthony Towns on the perimeter, and he responded with eight points, nine rebounds, and three blocks. Sion James made his shots and made his usual gritty plays. But perhaps the most impressive was Liam McNeeley. He made a couple threes and scored 10 points, but beyond that, you can see him growing in comfort. He was aggressive with the ball in his hands and is starting to find his way to impact games.

The Bad

Miles Bridges has just not been it in New York. In the last two games, he’s scored 16 total points on 7-of-27 (25.9%) from the field and 0-of-8 (0%) from three and the Hornets have been outscored by 58 points in his 59 minutes on the floor. He’s playing like he doesn’t know where to fit in.

The injury bug strikes again. Collin Sexton left in the third quarter with what appeared to be an upper leg muscle issue. Ryan Kalkbrenner sprained an ankle stepping on a foot in the fourth. LaMelo Ball seemed to have some discomfort in his chest or pec after a late game foul. We’ll see what happens with those three.

What’s Next

The Hornets head even further north to Toronto where it’ll be a balmy 30 degrees for the next few days. They’ll take on the Raptors on Friday.

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