7 quick thoughts on Charlotte Hornets after they lost their home opener to Miami Heat
The Charlotte Hornets had the sellout crowd you want for the home opener. And they had a top-flight opponent. And they had a stirring halftime tribute to their former public address announcer, “Big Pat” Doughty, as well as some of the other fan-oriented bells and whistles you’d expect for home game No. 1.
Unfortunately, the Hornets also had some other things they are known for: An injury that kept out one of their primary stars (Brandon Miller). A late comeback that fizzled. And, ultimately, a 114-106 loss to the Miami Heat.
Miami has now beaten the Hornets 12 of the past 14 times the two teams have played. The Heat have had the Hornets’ number back in the days of Dwyane Wade and the purple-shirt guy. Shoot, even back to the time the Hornets traded future Hall of Famer Alonzo Mourning to the Heat in 1995.
And so it was again Saturday night, as the Heat jumped ahead in the second quarter and led the entire second half before a Spectrum Center crowd of 19,102. Charlotte did make a nice effort in the fourth quarter when Tre Mann hit back-to-back jumpers to twice cut Miami’s lead to three points.
But Miami got buckets from two of its stars — Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro — and that was eventually that. Forward Miles Bridges said Charlotte also needed to be a little tougher in the game. As for what Miami was doing well, Bridges said: “Just being physical. But we knew that coming in. That’s what Miami does. That’s what they’ve been doing for years. We didn’t match their physicality today.”
So the Hornets are 1-2, having started the season with a nice win and then losing both halves of a back-to-back. Here are seven quick impressions of what I saw Saturday night:
▪ Hornets rookie and 2024 first-round pick Tidjane Salaün has a long, long way to go. And he’s only 19, so he’s got a long time to do it, too. But Salaün’s 8:38 on the court yielded no points, one rebound and not much else. He’s not going to help a lot anytime soon.
▪ LaMelo Ball has been scoring at a rapid clip throughout the first three games — he’s had three straight games of 25-plus points. But I’m more impressed with the way the Hornets and head coach Charles Lee have him buying into the defensive effort.
Ball had five fouls to go along with his 27 points, eight rebounds and seven assists Saturday, but that wasn’t a bad thing. Those fouls mostly came because he was really contesting shots and trying harder on the defensive side of things. And he’s getting to the free-throw line more, too.
▪ The Hornets did well with their fan experience Saturday. The tribute to “Big Pat” was touching — instead of asking for a moment of silence at the end, they had a standing ovation and a roar, just the way “Big Pat” would have liked it. And cutting to the “Concert for Carolina” — being played simultaneously only a mile away at Bank of America Stadium — was appropriate and undoubtedly raised some money due to the QR code. Eric Church, the musician who helped organize the concert for Hurricane Helene relief and also owns a piece of the Hornets, was prominently featured.
▪ Ball had one of the more spectacular missed dunks I’ve seen. With the game decided and Miami up by eight points, he went in for a mostly uncontested dunk with 11 seconds left and down eight points and tried to tomahawk it down.
Instead, the ball hit the back rim and flew all the way to center court, out of bounds.
▪ Not having Miller (out at least another week) due to a strained left glute is a big problem. He helps so much not only scoring, but on defense (Miller led the team in charges drawn last year and has vowed to do it again). Without him, the Hornets just look more disjointed.
▪ The sight of WNBA star A’ja Wilson rocking a vintage Charlotte Sting jersey at the game made me remember those times when Dawn Staley was the Sting’s starting point guard instead of a famous college coach who won national titles at South Carolina. It’s too bad Charlotte doesn’t still have a WNBA team. That league has absolutely skyrocketed in popularity.
▪ Lee said his performance through his first three games as an NBA head coach was “average,” and that seems about right. The Hornets are 1-2, after all. But he sure gets involved, and he’s positive without being Pollyanna-ish. I do like a lot of what he’s doing. This team has a shot. But Miller has got to get healthy and Ball has to stay healthy. If those two things happen, the rest of it at least has a chance of falling into place.
This story was originally published October 27, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
