Hornets’ eight-game homestand is missing key players, but Brandon Miller steps up in win
Even with a franchise-record eight-game homestand on tap and the team making in its first appearance at Spectrum Center in nearly two weeks, Steve Clifford wasn’t about to sugarcoat things.
In keeping with his usual style, the Charlotte Hornets coach remains a realist.
“Look, we know where we’re at here,” Clifford said. “Let’s be honest now. We were underdogs in Washington when they had lost 16 in a row. So we’ve been favored, I was told the other day, like four or five times all year. We are shorthanded and we’re playing seven of eight teams that are playoff teams. We can win any of them, but we’ll have to play really, really well.”
That’s precisely what the Hornets did against Cleveland on Wednesday night, making all the pertinent plays down the stretch to take a 116-111 victory and snap a five-game losing streak. If nothing else, these remaining games are providing an environment for Brandon Miller to keep ascending and polishing his game.
Miller’s seven made 3-pointers established a new career high and tied the single-game franchise record for most by a rookie. His play was key in the Hornets holding off the Cavaliers, providing him with another dose of conviction.
“I was just happy that we got a win,” Miller said. “We’ve been on this losing streak and I think a win like this can start something great and just build on this from here on out. … It definitely gives us the confidence. We’ve been having the confidence to go out there and just compete with any team in the league and I think we showed that.”
At this juncture, though, final results technically don’t hold a ton of significance. While victories are always the end goal, circumstances were modified for the Hornets months ago.
Once LaMelo Ball and Mark Williams got banged up and the front office pivoted toward shedding the team’s veteran talent and moving in another direction by adding players and draft picks, the Hornets signaled a shift in philosophy and are undermanned most nights. Injuries to Seth Curry and Cody Martin didn’t help matters.
“It is about competing hard and winning because you want to get true evaluations of guys,” Clifford said. “So we’re going to prepare the same way. I’m very honest with the team. I don’t think you can do it any other way in the NBA. But losing Seth and Cody changed our team.
“It’s two of our best six, seven players and it impacts us on every possession on both sides of the ball. So again, we’re not going to go 8-3, but we can have two or three really good wins here.”
Both Curry and Martin have been sidelined nursing sprained ankles since the first week of March, which put their respective seasons in jeopardy. Now it’s official.
“That isn’t something where there’s an option off the bench that’s going to allow us to go 9-2,” Clifford said. “Those two guys are not going to be able to come back. And it doesn’t mean we can’t play well. It doesn’t mean we can’t be proud of how we play. But that’s just where we are at. Listen, it’s not ideal.”
Certainly not for Curry, especially with Steph Curry and Golden State coming into town on Friday for their lone visit of the season. Seth Curry is in the first season of a two-year, $8 million deal and his 2024-25 salary remains non-guaranteed until June 25, the day before the NBA Draft. Martin’s extended time off is another frustrating moment in what was supposed to be a bounce back season for the 28-year-old following an injury-stained 2022-23 in which he played in just seven games.
It’s likely that Ball and Williams will also end their season early, joining Curry and Martin.
Another injury-marred season is close to concluding and the Hornets can soon begin putting the disappointment behind them and start looking ahead to what should be an interesting summer.
But first, they have to finish things off by ensuring they’re building good habits and playing the right way over the remaining 10 outings.
“Yeah, that’s the mindset,” Tre Mann said. “So, our goal is to get better every day, stack days. And next year or in the future, we want to be in the playoffs around this time. So, it starts here. We’ve got the last couple of games and they’re all against playoff teams. So, it’s a test to it, and we are going to see how we finish it.”
Consider it the Hornets’ final litmus of a wildly frustrating 2023-24 campaign.
“When I was young, I went to a coaching clinic and Bobby Knight was the speaker,” Clifford said. “And they asked questions. And this guy said, ‘I’m a freshman coach, this year is my first time. I’ve always wanted to coach. ‘Do you have any advice?’ And he said, ‘There’s going to be some nights, some weeks, some months and some years where you are just going to get your ass kicked. If you don’t think you can handle that, don’t coach.’
“So, I’ve been fortunate in this league. I’ve been on teams that went to the finals in the Eastern Conference, won 59 two years in a row. We had a couple of good years here where we did a lot better than (previous) teams had. These last two years have been difficult. I still enjoy it and there’s no way why we can’t have all expectations that we play hard. It’s going to be difficult to win a lot of these games. That’s just it.”
This story was originally published March 27, 2024 at 10:49 PM.
