Recap/Analysis: Hornets drop home opener to Heat – At The Hive

LaMelo Ball led the way with 27 points, but the Charlotte Hornets couldn’t get stops down the stretch and lost to the Miami Heat, 114-106.

The Summary

Both teams started looking like that they had led in their shoes, and that held true for a lot of the game. It took a while for either team to simply make a shot. The Hornets got a little eight point outburst from Seth Curry to briefly take a lead, but the offense went frigid after that and allowed the Heat to get back into the game. The Heat’s stars took turns finding their rhythm in the second quarter and helped the visitors out to an eight point lead at the break.

The third quarter closely mirrored what happened on Friday night against the Hawks. The Hornets made a couple of little runs and threatened the Heat, but they were never able to string together enough scores or stops to overtake them. They let go of the rope a little bit and trailed by double figures heading into the fourth.

Grant Williams and Miles Bridges hit back to back threes to open the fourth quarter and force a quick Erik Spoelstra timeout. That seemed to do the trick. The Hornets didn’t score another point until they called their own timeout a few minutes later. It looked like the Heat were going to run away and hide, but a couple of Cody Martin threes helped keep them in the Hornets’ sight. Miles Bridges did a good job on a couple of Jimmy Butler drives, but he was able to shake free for a couple of buckets. Tre Mann hit a stepback three and a pull-up mid range jumper to answer the Butler buckets, but Tyler Herro hit back with his own three. Nick Richards let a pass slip through his hands that would’ve led to an easy dunk, and the Heat recovered the loose ball and earned free throws. Terry Rozier of all people hit the dagger three with just over 30 seconds left to play.

The Good

LaMelo Ball couldn’t find the stroke from deep for much of the game, but he still found ways to score. He drew a bunch of fouls with low rip throughs on drives to the traffic. He used his body to nudge defenders away to create space for floaters and lays. It’s the kind of progress he’s needed to make to truly unlock his scoring ability.

Tre Mann ended up having a good game off the bench. He got off to a little bit of a slow start, but he hit some big shots down the stretch and accounted for over half the team’s bench scoring.

Seth Curry seemed more like a veteran presence than a key rotation piece when the Hornets brought him back in the summer, but he’s proving to be an important player. He provided a spark for the Hornets in the first quarter with his shooting. He’s been a sneaky good offensive rebounder and glue player as well.

Tidjane Salaün made his NBA debut. He got a rebound a steal.

The Bad

The Hornets committed five 5-second out of bounds turnovers. That’s like an entire season’s worth. It looked like guys weren’t quite sure where to be, and there were passes to be made that inbounders just weren’t seeing or trusting. Time to hit the drawing board for some sideline out of bounds plays.

The Hornets have dug themselves into double digit holes in all three games so far. They were able to come back and win over the Rockets and put up tough fights in the last two, but they need to figure out how to keep themselves out of those holes. If they can play with the intensity that they do during their comebacks out of the gate, they’ll be really tough to beat.

What’s Next

The Hornets have three days off before hosting the Raptors on Wednesday.