It happened again: LaMelo Ball exits with injury after Brandon Miller’s return
If there was any doubt, the scene on the Charlotte Hornets’ bench 90 minutes before the opening tip was thrown in the air squashed it, providing insight even before the official word was handed down about who would play.
After missing the initial two games of the Hornets’ road trip in New York, mostly because the team’s performance staff thought resting his left shoulder was a good idea, Brandon Miller worked up a serious lather, getting into form for his first action in nearly a week.
“Yeah, it’s always great when you can add a player of Brandon’s caliber,” coach Charles Lee said. “I think that his overall just competitiveness, his overall talent, athleticism and length, it helps you defensively, his activity. I mean, he’s kind of all over the place.”
The Hornets’ third-year swingman was back, making the Hornets’ starting lineup whole again — for about a half, anyway.
Instead of feeling great about getting one of their best players back, the Hornets are in familiar territory once more. And not the good kind. Chalk it up to star guard LaMelo Ball exiting the game early in the second half of the Hornets’ 111-86 win over the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena on Friday night.
“Just control what we can control,” said Miles Bridges, who posted 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists. “Injuries happen — to us a lot. We’ve just got to stay level-headed and lift the guys up who do get injured, because nobody wants to get injured. So, that’s all we got to do is have the next-man-up mentality.”
The play Ball was injured on looked extremely innocent. He slipped early in the third quarter getting back in transition, sprawling out on the court. He rose to his feet and appeared to be fine, but it wasn’t long before he strolled to the bench, checking out of the action with only 1:51 having elapsed in the half.
Upon informing Pat Chasse, the Hornets’ vice president of medical and performance, what the issue was, Ball walked back to the visiting locker room with him, ending Ball’s night prematurely and evoking more thoughts of “Groundhog Day” thanks to the endless list of injuries for the Hornets (6-17).
“I saw the play out of the corner of my eye as we were kind of getting back there in transition,” Lee said. “It’ll be great to get back and evaluate them when we get home and see the severity of it. But in general I would just say when anyone goes down, I have confidence and belief in all of our guys. We know that we can do it by committee.”
Spotted in the locker room after the game, Ball remained in relatively good spirits, boisterously chatting it up with his teammates. His injury partially paved the way for Tidjane Salaün to post a career-best 21 points, with 18 coming in the second half.
“Definitely hate to see it,” Miller said of Ball going down on the night he returned, “but I think the next man has to be prepared and ready to go at any point. So, I give my props to Tidjane for coming in with the best attitude and just playing to his strengths. And it obviously worked out for him.”
Still, having Miller in the fold provided a modicum of positivity for a team in dire need of some. He tossed in 12 points and fought through some rust, canning 5 of 14 attempts.
“I feel good, just to come out there and compete again with my guys,” Miller said. “And then even better, we got the win against a good team at their house. So, all I can ask for is just everybody go out there and just compete at the highest level.”
That’s essentially what Miller does. His presence can’t be duplicated because he’s a two-way player who can leave his imprints on the action in a variety of areas.
“He allows us to have another primary defender on some of their primary ball-handlers that I think are some of their best creators,” Lee said. “And then offensively, he gives us another weapon when we’re trying to play with pace, we’re trying to pass the ball ahead, or across his ability to get to the paint and make plays, his basketball IQ.”
Yeah, that’s good and all. But what exactly do the Hornets miss when Miller is absent from the floor, the way he had been during the Hornets’ defeats in Brooklyn on Monday and versus the Knicks on Wednesday?
“I just hyped him up tremendously, gave you all the positives to our team — and so you don’t have any of those things,” Lee quipped in a fun jest. “I guess the last thing, not having him sometimes it’s just another competitor, another basketball IQ guy. His spirit is so contagious, because he is so competitive and he wears his emotions on his sleeves. A lot of time he’s so passionate.
“It gives our group a boost. And so when you don’t have that guy out there, you know it can hurt you a lot.”
Here are some more key takeaways from the Hornets’ victory:
Arena malfunction causes lengthy delay
Immediately after Ball’s 6-foot floater fell through the net with 11:20 remaining in the first quarter, referee Natalie Sago blew her whistle, stopping play. At first, the casual observer might’ve thought Sago was calling a technical foul on Ball for raising his arms in disgust, believing he got hacked on his drive to the bucket.
However, the stoppage stemmed from something else.
Strobe lighting inside the arena used for pre-game introductions malfunctioned badly, staying on and flickering, causing a glare on the court. Play got held up for more than 12 minutes of real time until the action finally resumed once the problem got corrected.
“I’ve never seen that one before,” Miller said. “The lights were bright and they just kept flashing, so I feel like we had to take time to at least get the lights on our side off. And whoever in this building did it, they did a great job of just finding a way to get the lights off.”
Much to the delight of the Hornets.
“Man, that was weird as (expletive),” Bridges said. “But control what we can control, man. Stay locked in.”
Sion James a quiet bright spot
Miller’s return meant it was back to a reserve role for Sion James.
Tabbed as the fill-in at shooting guard while Miller was out, James stepped up adequately and once again showed his ever-improving value to the Hornets. During the first two games of the trip, James tossed in 5 of 12 attempts and went 3 of 10 beyond the 3-point arc.
He didn’t take a shot against the Raptors, netting three points off free throws to go along with three rebounds, a pair of steals and a block.
“He’s been really good,” Lee said of James. “He’s one of the more selfless guys that we have on this roster, where he’s willing to do whatever it takes to try to be positive or help us try to put ourselves in the best position to win a game. And he takes one of the best matchups every now and then.
“I love the communication that he has. He’s very vocal in what he sees during the game, which I think helps his teammates and helps me as well. And then offensively, he stays within himself. He’s looking to catch and shoot. He’s looking to create and connect everybody on our team.”
What’s up with Tre Mann?
While Miller and Ryan Kalkbrenner were good to go, the same couldn’t be said about Tre Mann.
Mann was on the bench in street clothes, rendering him without a single minute logged during the Hornets’ three-game trek through the northeast and across the Canadian border.
Just as he did in New York on Monday and Wednesday, Mann participated in the team’s morning shootaround. But he got downgraded to doubtful two hours later this time, before being listed as out with a little over an hour prior to tipoff versus Toronto.
His status for Sunday’s 6 p.m. start against Denver probably won’t be certain until closer to pre-game warmups, given the Hornets won’t have a shootaround before matching up with the Nuggets.
“I think he’s making good progress every day,” Lee said. “He’s been able to do a little bit on the court every day. And so it’s been a long road trip, but I think that he’s made progress on this road trip. And it’ll be good for us to get home, and get him back in our facility and keep evaluating them day-to-day.”
This story was originally published December 5, 2025 at 10:19 PM with the headline "It happened again: LaMelo Ball exits with injury after Brandon Miller’s return."
