Recap/Analysis: Hornets preseason defeat Grizzlies, 119-94 – At The Hive

Brandon Miller, Tre Mann, and Tidjane Salaün paced the Charlotte Hornets as they defeated the Memphis Grizzlies, 119-104.

The Summary

LaMelo Ball and Josh Green were given the night off. The Hornets got off to a little bit of a slow start with some sloppy turnovers, but a couple of threes from Brandon Miller and strong drives by Miles Bridges generated enough offense to stay even with the Grizzlies. Miller got hot and scored 16 first quarter points over the course of a couple of flurries to help the Hornets to a three point first quarter lead. They started to ratchet up the defensive intensity in the latter half of the second quarter, and that allowed the Hornets to race out to a double digit lead heading into the break. The Hornets cruised to the win with the reserves in the game.

The third quarter was a drag. After some really efficient shooting in the first half, the Hornets couldn’t buy a bucket in the third quarter while continuing to turn the ball over at an alarming rate. The Grizzlies scored 13 straight points at one point, but that run was finally halted by a KJ Simpson three. The Hornets stabilized after that and eventually built back most of their lead with Tre Mann leading the charge.

The Good

It was good to see Brandon Miller get off the blocks after a couple of quiet starts in the first two games. He exploded in the first quarter and looks like he’s carrying a good, calm demeanor on the floor.

Tre Mann just might actually be a really good player. He’s been one of the best players on the floor each of the three preseason games so far. I’m getting very excited for what kind of player he can be for the Hornets off the bench this season.

He did almost all of his damage in the fourth quarter against reserves, but it’s still fun to watch Tidjane Salaün have so much preseason success. He was 3-of-10 from three, but it’s good to see him have the confidence to keep hoisting them up there, and the misses were all very close for the most part. As Eric Collins says, “something to dream on.”

The Bad

Vasilije Micic has had a real rough couple of games. He had four turnovers in four minutes on Tuesday and had another four turnovers in 20 minutes against the Grizzlies. He could have had more too. There were a few times where he had the ball knocked away but was fortunate to have it recovered by a teammate. He’s looked slow and unsure with the ball in his hands, and his misses weren’t even close. He’s going to lose out on minutes to Tre Mann at the point and Seth Curry as guard depth if he doesn’t straighten out his play.

It’s preseason, but there were some pretty poor defensive efforts, especially in the first quarter and a half. There were lots of possessions with no closeouts and pretty unencumbered drives to the basket. I don’t think Charles Lee will tolerate a lot of that, but it’s also hard to play with full competitiveness in a game that doesn’t count. We’ll see how it looks when the real games start.

What’s Next

The Hornets have the whole weekend off before playing the Knicks again on Tuesday.