Wednesday night’s fourth quarter action in Salt Lake City against the Jazz was a basketball full circle moment for long-time and die-hard Charlotte Hornets fans.
The former 15th overall pick out of Duke, Mark Williams had a coming out party and dominated on both ends of the floor. LaMelo Ball put his head down and attacked the basket with no fear and reckless abandon. Miles Bridges did what he had to do for his team to come out on top. Brandon Miller spaced the floor and created open shot for his teammates.
The Hornets ‘core four’ shouldered the load and were responsible for a remarkable 103 of the team’s 117 points, pointing out the talent deficit of the Hornets roster outside of their starting unit.
Josh Green continued to be mired in a nightmarish shooting slump, as Cody Martin stepped in and saved the day as Charlotte’s shooting guard down the stretch in the Hornets 117-112 victory.
While the performance of the Hornets’ starters deserves admirable praise, let us put it in its proper perspective. The Jazz were extremely shorthanded and were down their four leading scorers Lauri Markkanen, Colin Sexton, Jordan Clarkson, and John Collins, opening up opportunities for lesser-known guards Keyontae George and Brice Sensabaugh to shred the Hornets’ defense.
Williams was sensational on Wednesday night. The Hornets’ improving big man poured in a career high 33 points in a dominating outing that put to bed any lingering questions about what he can become as an NBA center. He is a legitimate two-way monster.
Williams deposited dunk after dunk from all sorts of angles and passes while abusing and making life difficult in the paint for Walker Kessler and Kyle Filipowski every time they went into the low post on offense. It has been ages since a Charlotte center dominated a game like that, perhaps going back to the early days of the franchise with Alonzo Mourning, and if it continues at this pace, the Hornets have limitless talent in their front court.
The Hornets’ bench were no-shows and could have been left at home. A 4-14 shooting night carried by Martin’s 3-4 three-point shooting performance and dragged down by Nick Smith Jr.’s 0-5 shooting night was the reason the game still hung in the balance. Charlotte’s starters played well enough to dominate the Jazz, but they did not get any help whatsoever from a listless bench performance.
The Hornets were without the services of both the newly traded Nick Richards, who was dealt earlier in the day to the Phoenix Suns and the G-League assigned Moussa Diabate, leaving them with a massive size disadvantage in Utah. It did not matter. Ball, Bridges, and Williams found their way into the painted area all night, scoring the ball in a variety of ways to carry Charlotte to victory.
Charlotte’s next game is on Friday night in Chicago against Zach LaVine and the Bulls. Tip-off is set for 8 P.M.
Utah travels to New Orleans on Friday night to face Zion Williamson and the Pelicans.
