The Hornets think they’re a dangerous team in the NBA play-in tournament. Here’s why
Putting a hand on Miles Bridges and listening to him speak, LaMelo Ball nodded in agreement with the Charlotte Hornets forward.
Bridges was breaking down some of the reasons why the Hornets are in their current position, boasting the third-best winning percentage in the Eastern Conference since the All-Star break prior to their loss in Philadelphia on Saturday. The Hornets are bound for the play-in tournament next week and remain in line to host at least one game if they can finish above 10th place in the conference standings.
But in order to reach the next level, it’s critical for the Hornets to continually improve defensively. That’s non-negotiable.
“Usually we are an offensive-minded team,” Bridges said, “but once we buy in on defense there aren’t too many teams that can beat us. Because when we get out in transition, nobody can run with us.”
The guy who pushes the pace and is a walking fastbreak shook his head in approval.
“That’s all facts,” Ball said. “I feel like if we are getting stops it’s going to lead to offense and that’s when we are best, you know? In transition. So, defense is going to get us that.”
Hiccup against Philadelphia aside, the Hornets are encouraged with their incremental progress defensively. Since Dec. 25, they are 12th in defensive efficiency with a rating of 111.9 and eight of the 11 teams ahead of them in that category during that stretch are locked in playoff position. New York, Orlando and New Orleans are the others.
Prior to that aforementioned span leading into the new year, the Hornets were entrenched at 30th in defensive efficiency with a 114.2 rating.
“Well, our focus going into the season was on the defensive end,” coach James Borrego said. “We had a rough start and we owned it. We talked about it. We’ve stayed with it, we’ve drilled it. We’ve made it a priority every single day. Every practice, every shootaround. For the last three months, we’ve been a top-10 defense and our group has really committed to that end of the floor. “It hasn’t been perfect every night — we are still a work in progress — but it’s more of a commitment on that end. And it starts out with our commitment to protect the paint, protect the rim, our commitment to rebound and box out.”
All those ingredients are a necessity for the Hornets to fully unleash an offense that’s as dangerous as any in the league, making them potentially a tough out in the play-in tournament. It’s been their strength all season, particularly over the last month and a half, and they find themselves in rare air heading into the final week of the regular season.
The Hornets nearly have three players hovering around the 20 points-per-game average with Bridges (20.3) leading the charge ahead of Ball (19.9) and Terry Rozier (19.3). Only Milwaukee boasts at least three players who net 20 or more per game.
Since the All-Star break, the Hornets are also tops in assists per game at 30.1, which includes eight 30-assist games in March. That’s tied for most in a month by any team since 2018-19.
Vaulting to second in assist percentage and holding the No. 1 spot in assist-to-turnover ratio over the last five weeks has them climbing back to the same vicinity they were in during their season’s apex record-wise when they were 28-22.
Crisp passing is the catalyst. It has to stay that way, too.
“It just gives me comfort knowing if I give the ball up I’m going to get it back,” Bridges said. “So that’s the best feeling for me and I feel like everybody feels it. And that’s why everybody has been buying into ball movement.”
Borrego reinforces it sometimes with video footage. There’s nothing like seeing it play out in that format. It allows him to teach and deliver the message with tangible viewing results.
“We believe that when the ball is moving, everybody is touching it, we are a better team,” Borrego said. “We defend better, we shoot better, we win more games. And that’s just a buy-in piece. Showing it on film, demanding it, having your main core pieces buy into this.
“We have a team that’s really balanced. I truly believe the strength of this team is our balance and our depth. With that, if we move it, if we share it, we keep everybody happy and we tend to win more games that way.”
The ball movement also makes it hard to center in on one of the Hornets’ main scorers and they can get more guys in a good rhythm offensively. That seems to have a direct result on what happens on the other end of the floor.
“Yeah, I feel like we’ve got a lot of people who can go,” Ball said, “but back to what (Miles) said (earlier), pretty much on the defensive part, I feel like when we are playing defense everything gets to working. Offense, everybody is scoring. Just everybody is happy.”
When the Hornets put it all together, they’ve shown they can compete with the league’s upper echelon. Wins over all but two of the top five teams in each conference verify that.
Consistency is paramount for them as they motor toward the play-in tournament for the second year in a row.
“This team believes and I believe that this team is capable of beating any team on any floor when we are committed to both sides of the ball, which we have been since the break,” Borrego said. “And these guys, this young group deserves a lot of credit. Even without Gordon Hayward this team has turned the corner and made some major strides in winning basketball games for our program.
“Last season we struggled this time of year. We didn’t trend in the right way. I’m really proud of this group that we are trending in the right way. This is a very mature team. Very young, but our approach is very mature. If we can stay with that approach we feel like we are capable of winning any game on any floor.”
