{"id":671962,"date":"2026-03-22T04:08:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T04:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/671962\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T04:08:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T04:08:16","slug":"lamelo-ball-brandon-miller-power-hornets-past-memphis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/671962\/","title":{"rendered":"LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller power Hornets past Memphis"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the midst of a statistically impressive season, LaMelo Ball<\/a> is doing it all for the Charlotte Hornets<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With a smile. Just ask his coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis spirit is so infectious and contagious around our building,\u201d coach Charles Lee said. \u201cThere\u2019s just so much joy that he brings. His teammates love him. They love being around him. \u2026 He is one of those guys that\u2019s so open-minded to being coached. He\u2019s still hungry to learn.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd because you\u2019re able to coach your best players hard and consistently, it makes everybody else around him also realize that they can also get coached, too. So, it creates a good environment where I think everybody understands it\u2019s not personal. It\u2019s all in an effort to help us get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

That formula is working, with the latest evidence coming in Saturday night\u2019s easy 124-101 triumph over the Memphis Grizzlies at Spectrum Center.<\/p>\n

\"Charlotte Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball signals his made 3-point basket to a Memphis Grizzlies defender during Saturday\u2019s action at Spectrum Center. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com <\/p>\n

Ball served as the catalyst, pushing the Hornets (37-34) in a game needed to keep pace with the likes of Atlanta, Orlando, Miami and Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament picture. He posted a game-best 29 points to go with four assists and three rebounds, helping the Hornets climb within 1.5 games of sixth place heading into Saturday night\u2019s late action.<\/p>\n

\u201cHim on the defensive side, nobody really talks about it,\u201d Brandon Miller said. \u201cI think everybody always looks at the one-legged threes, the flashy moves, the flashy lobs. The one thing that separates him this season is the defensive effort and the competitor that he is. Just stepping up in tough games and guarding the best players and trying not to foul. It\u2019s him just trying new things.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo him being open-minded is great for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ball\u2019s efficient outing came in front of yet another sellout crowd<\/a> of 19,487, which represented the sixth straight. It was the Hornets\u2019 18th sellout of the 2025-26 campaign \u2014 two more than they had during 2022\u201323.<\/p>\n

The energetic patrons witnessed a workman-like effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of our team,\u201d Lee said. \u201cI think that it\u2019s about your mindset because there\u2019s no guarantees. It doesn\u2019t matter what the outside noise and expectations are. There\u2019s no guarantees in sports, and so that\u2019s why you\u2019ve got to go out, you\u2019ve got to play the game. You\u2019ve got to execute, you have to have the appropriate respect for your opponent.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought our team did that from the beginning to the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chalk it up as more growth for the young Hornets.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s (about) not overlooking a team,\u201d Miller said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to understand that they\u2019re still NBA players. Everything\u2019s not going to be easy. So just kind of go in there with the mindset of just competing at the highest level and just beating the team how we would normally beat a team.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust stick to our absolutes, and we\u2019ll be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are some other key takeaways from the Hornets\u2019 third straight win:<\/p>\n

\"Charlotte Charlotte Hornets forward Kon Knueppel dives out of bounds after attempting to save the ball during Saturday\u2019s action against the Memphis Grizzlies at Spectrum Center. The Hornets defeated the Grizzlies 124-101. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com Keeping Kon fresh<\/p>\n

As hard as it may be to believe at times, Kon Knueppel still isn\u2019t even a year removed from competing in the NCAA Tournament. Before the Hornets took on the Grizzlies, he undoubtedly had an eye on the Blue Devils\u2019 eventual second-round win in Greenville over Texas Christian University on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n

While Knueppel\u2019s former team played its 36th game of the season, the rookie has already nearly doubled that. Knueppel was immersed in Game No. 70. He didn\u2019t have the best of shooting performances, knocking down 3 of 9 attempts, going 1 for 6 beyond the arc, and netting nine points.<\/p>\n

It was the first time Knueppel didn\u2019t score in double figures since Nov. 26.<\/p>\n

Keeping him as fresh as possible is key for the Hornets down the stretch as they make their push to end the NBA\u2019s longest playoff drought.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur group is definitely focused on it,\u201d Lee said. \u201cIt helps having a performance staff, a coaching staff that\u2019s been through an 82-game season, and playoffs and deep playoff runs. We\u2019re able to educate him on the importance of recovery and rest. And credit to him, he has listened. I think that he\u2019s done a great job himself of managing the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, it\u2019s a collaboration.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe try to do it on the front end with how we\u2019re mapping out a practice or how intense practice is that day or what his court load looks like, but then it\u2019s on him,\u201d Lee said. \u201cThere\u2019s a ton of time in the NBA where you\u2019re not in the building, and what are you going to do during those periods? I think he\u2019s done a great job of taking care of his body and managing himself mentally and physically be ready to go hoop consistently every night.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Charlotte Charlotte Hornets guard Brandon Miller, left, keeps his eyes on the ball as Memphis Grizzlies forward GG Jackson II, right, towers over him during action at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Saturday, March 21, 2026. The Hornets defeated the Grizzlies 124-101. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com What\u2019s working well<\/p>\n

Make that victories in five of the last six games for the Hornets.<\/p>\n

During this recent stretch, the Hornets have been impressive in a variety of ways, utilizing high defensive intensity and connectedness. They\u2019ve effectively executed specific game plans and the extra attention to detail is also paying dividends.<\/p>\n

Offensively, advancements in overall team play, pace and screening have been at the forefront. They\u2019ve responded well to some of Lee\u2019s challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cComing off that road trip, we talked a ton about playing versus physicality, playing versus pressure,\u201d Lee said. \u201cAnd they implemented a lot of the things that we worked on in practices and talked about during film. And the ball movement\u2019s been phenomenal.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Roderick Boone<\/a><\/p>\n

The Charlotte Observer<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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 \u201cThe Fresh Prince of Bel Air\u201d endlessly.
\n Support my work with a digital subscription<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the midst of a statistically impressive season, LaMelo Ball is doing it all for the Charlotte Hornets.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":671963,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3795],"tags":[7,970,294,685,968,966,293,177,4070,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-671962","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-memphis-grizzlies","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-brandon-miller","10":"tag-grizzlies","11":"tag-hornets","12":"tag-kon-knueppel","13":"tag-lamelo-ball","14":"tag-memphis","15":"tag-memphis-grizzlies","16":"tag-memphisgrizzlies","17":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116270866270672698","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671962","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=671962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/671963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=671962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=671962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=671962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}