{"id":493100,"date":"2025-12-24T10:33:33","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T10:33:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/493100\/"},"modified":"2025-12-24T10:33:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T10:33:33","slug":"do-the-hornets-have-a-run-in-them-what-they-said-after-beating-the-wizards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/493100\/","title":{"rendered":"Do the Hornets have a run in them? What they said after beating the Wizards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Understanding it was the final appearance together before Christmas and knowing they wouldn\u2019t see each other for at least 24 hours, the Charlotte Hornets<\/a> still weren\u2019t in the gift-giving mood Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

Instead, they doled out a lump of coal to the Washington Wizards.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

After turning the ball over far too often in their previous two games, leading to losses, the Hornets took much better care of it against the Wizards. They rode the coattails of an efficient second half fueled offensively by star guard LaMelo Ball and committed a season-low five turnovers, upending Washington 126-109 at Spectrum Center.<\/p>\n

\"With<\/p>\n

With only two days left until Christmas, a young Hornets fan holds a homemade \u201cMerry Swishmas\u201d sign during the game against the Wizards on Tuesday at Spectrum Center. Hornets fans received an early gift with a 126-109 win over the Wizards.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe played a couple of physical teams the last two games, and I thought we kind of got knocked back by their physicality,\u201d Kon Knueppel<\/a> said. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say the Wizards play as physical as the Detroit Pistons or the (Cleveland) Cavs, but I also just thought that we did a good job of playing at our pace and making smarter decisions with the basketball.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously five total turnovers, it\u2019s pretty good. So we\u2019ll live with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Break up the Hornets, who\u2019re now immersed in their most impressive stretch of the season. They\u2019ve won half of their past dozen games and are creeping up in the Eastern Conference standings, elevating to 12th place. That leaves them currently 3.5 games behind the final play-in tournament spot currently occupied by the Chicago Bulls.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, we\u2019re just going to take one game at a time, compete and try to get a win every night,\u201d Knueppel said. \u201cAnd going forward, I think if we play our brand of basketball and play the way we want to play, we\u2019re going to have a good chance to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Exactly what\u2019s gotten into the Hornets (10-20) of late? Their head coach has his reasoning.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think some of it\u2019s our defensive intensity,\u201d Hornets coach Charles Lee said. \u201cI feel like our defensive continues to get better. The games that we win, our defensive rating is usually in a really good spot. And then offensive, I feel like ever since the game at Brooklyn, we\u2019ve done such a better job of trusting the pass, playing the pass.<\/p>\n

\u201cI come up here a lot of games now and I\u2019m talking about how many assists we had on how we made field goals. And it\u2019s a testament to our overall pace. But also guys getting out of screens, our execution in the half court and our execution in the early offense is really good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Here are some of the key takeaways from the Hornets\u2019 third win in their past five games:<\/p>\n

Welcome back Collin Sexton<\/p>\n

That revolving door remains ajar.<\/p>\n

Keeping in tune with the usual theme, the Hornets welcomed back one face while having to see another planted on the bench in street clothes \u2014 Ryan Kalkbrenner \u2014 due to injury. Collin Sexton<\/a> hadn\u2019t played since coming up gimpy in New York during their Dec. 3 loss to the Knicks, nursing a left quadriceps strain.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Although no one sounded the proverbial alarm at the time, Sexton wound up being sidelined for seven games, putting a dent in the Hornets\u2019 guard depth. But Lee finally had him at his disposal again, summoning the eighth-year pro into the rotation in the first quarter after initially going to Tre Mann to spell Ball.<\/p>\n

\"Hornets<\/p>\n

Hornets guard Collin Sexton loses control of the ball while driving to the basket during the game against the Wizards on Tuesday at Spectrum Center.<\/p>\n

Sexton\u2019s numbers in his return won\u2019t blow anyone away \u2014 he posted 12 points in 16 minutes \u2014 but his imprint can\u2019t always be measured in statistics.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cJust his overall energy and his passion for the game,\u201d Lee said. \u201cWe always talk a ton around here about competing and what that looks like. And you can compete in a lot of different ways, but Colin just never stops. I think defensively and offensively, he\u2019s always thinking about how can I win every possession and how can I be impactful in every possession.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love the boost that he gave us from a spirit and a competitiveness standpoint. Defensively, he crawls up into guys. He gets a deflection on like one of his first defensive plays where he\u2019s about to blow up a screen, which really helped us because I thought their off ball movement was hurting us a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Assessing Brandon Miller\u2019s production<\/p>\n

Worried about Brandon Miller\u2019s<\/a> shooting percentage? Lee isn\u2019t<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

.Despite Miller knocking down only 38.8% overall and 32.7% from 3-point land, the concern level remains low. Miller, who went 8-for-16 against the Wizards, hit half of his attempts or better in two of his previous five games.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a small sign of progress.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say some of the shooting numbers will improve with more time back at the on the court,\u201d Lee said. \u201cI do think sometimes he\u2019s had some shots that are short, which just shows me some of that\u2019s your conditioning and how you\u2019re coming back to the rhythm of the game, having to play intense defense. I think that he has stepped up his defensive mindset, wanting to take on some of the better matchups of the other team.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that we\u2019re seeing his legs get up underneath him. He\u2019s been scoring at a lot higher clip and I think that offensively I\u2019ve just seen him actually develop a more all-around game. We know how much he can score. I\u2019ve been really impressed with how much he\u2019s been passing and finding guys and picking roles or finding guys on his drives and then he\u2019s had some explosive finishes at the rim that show that he\u2019s starting to find his rhythm.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Hornets<\/p>\n

Hornets guard LaMelo Ball is held back by a teammate as he reacts after being pushed off the court by Wizards\u2019 guard Kyshawn George during Tuesday\u2019s game at Spectrum Center.<\/p>\n

Ryan Kalkbrenner not center of attention<\/p>\n

That\u2019s two straight games missed by Kalkbrenner. The rookie center had been available for all but one outing prior to sitting out the Hornets\u2019 last two matchups, so he\u2019s really hurting.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Originally listed as questionable against the Wizards before being downgraded two hours prior to tipoff, Kalkbrenner is dealing with a sprained left elbow. His status for Friday\u2019s game in Orlando is uncertain.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust obviously got back late (Monday) night and so (Tuesday) was another day for him to come in and get some evaluation and treatment,\u201d Lee said. \u201cSounds like he\u2019s still just trying to figure out what the plan is going to be for him to return to play. I think after (Tuesday), we\u2019ll have a little bit of a clearer idea of what\u2019s going on with him.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Understanding it was the final appearance together before Christmas and knowing they wouldn\u2019t see each other for at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":493101,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3777],"tags":[7,970,670,136,5087,684,473,3878,329,305,1585,188,685,304,968,966,6,47,972,6358,468],"class_list":{"0":"post-493100","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-charlotte-hornets","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-brandon-miller","10":"tag-brooklyn","11":"tag-cavs","12":"tag-charles-lee","13":"tag-charlotte","14":"tag-charlotte-hornets","15":"tag-charlottehornets","16":"tag-chicago-bulls","17":"tag-cleveland","18":"tag-collin-sexton","19":"tag-detroit-pistons","20":"tag-hornets","21":"tag-knicks","22":"tag-kon-knueppel","23":"tag-lamelo-ball","24":"tag-nba","25":"tag-orlando","26":"tag-ryan-kalkbrenner","27":"tag-tre-mann","28":"tag-washington-wizards"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115774095666520545","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=493100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/493101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=493100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=493100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=493100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}