Hornets trying to find consistency with starting rotation

NBA ENTERTAINMENT

Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges, who has been the most reliable starter in terms of availability this season, scored 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting in their 115-104 win against Phoenix Tuesday at Spectrum Center.

The healthy version of the Charlotte Hornets proved they can be formidable.

The Hornets (8-27) beat Phoenix 115-104 and got contributions from all their presumptive preseason starters: LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges, Josh Green and Mark Williams. This was just the second game with all five in the starting rotation, the first was a 115-105 loss at Cleveland on Jan. 5.

Charlotte outscored the 16-19 Suns 37-17 in the second quarter and in the last 6:37 of the second quarter outscored them 26-6. Lee, a defensive-minded coach, was pleased with the second quarter and the effort on the defensive end throughout the entire game.

“It’s definitely one of the better quarters that we’ve had this year,” he said. “I just think the defensive focus and game plan execution was really good – the ability to switch coverages and matchups. It starts with Josh Green guarding the primary ball handler in [Devin] Booker, and then Cody [Martin] comes in and guards Booker. Miles [Bridges] did a great job on [Kevin] Durant, and then Tidjane [Salaun] comes in and gets some rookie minutes versus a guy like that.

“I just think that every guy that was the primary matchup took on the individual challenge and did a great job for the most part without fouling. That second quarter was actually really good for us. I’m just proud of the group for continuing to just chop away… especially when shots weren’t falling for us early in the game. There was no let up with our defense.”

Bridges took on the responsibility of guarding one of the NBA’s all-time greats in Durant. Lee felt it was one of Bridges’ best defensive outings despite Durant’s 26 points.

“I tried my best,” Bridges said with a laugh, “but he still had 26 so that just shows how great of a player he is. But, you know, I try to be physical. It’ll make everything hard. With those types of players, you just have to put a hand up and hope they miss. And I guess I threw him off [his] game a little bit. It helped us win the game.”

For Bridges, it was good to be on the court with a full complement of teammates. He joked that he could count on one hand the times the starting five played together. In reality, he’s right – just three times.

“It’s [been] tough,” Bridges said. “We’re trying to get into a rhythm. And when injuries happen, it's always hard. So, I'm happy that we're finally on the court together. And I want to build off this.”

The Hornets ended a 10-game losing streak and Lee believes this can help build momentum now that the full core is available.

“[I’m] really happy for the guys,” Lee said. “Like I said, they come into work every day. Whether we win, we come in and we work. We lose, we come in and we work. We truly have a group – from the players to the staff, front office, literally everyone – that is obsessed with daily improvement. It’s a joy to come into work.

“I’m happy for them because they’ve stuck with it, stuck with each other through some adversity. I think this shows what we’re capable of. We have enough in that locker room when it comes to talent…We just have to sustain it for four quarters. We did that tonight, and we need to continue to just stack good days over good days, and we’ll come out on the other side of all of it.”

Bridges agrees.

The win “feels good,” he said. “We’re about to go on a tough west road trip, so, hopefully this can lead to some type of winning streak. I never think the season is over. I still think we got a chance to make the playoffs, or the play-in. The plan is just to build off this.”

Injuries are a part of the game, but the Hornets were able to see what a full complement of players looks like now. If injuries don’t bite again, Lee thinks this team can build for future success — but it is a collective effort.

“That’d be nice if they all stayed healthy,” he said, “but I just think that it's a total team effort. At the end of the day too, the guys around the core four are also playing really well, like… Nick Smith Jr. I think that his boost and Cody Martin’s boost and Nick Richards off the bench, so it’s a collective thing.

“Just because you have the core four, the big three, the tandem of two, I don’t know… it’s not guaranteeing wins. I think that it’s a team game, and we're just seeing that if we have our whole collective group together, competing, no matter what five it is or what 10 it is, we have enough in that locker room to kind of get it done and so that's the point. It’s really exciting for me.”

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