As Charlotte Hornets star LaMelo Ball has put out onslaughts against different teams and continues to be a standout player, there could be a discussion about a potential future where he is not on the team past this season.
The L.A. Clippers have won fifteen straight games against the Charlotte Hornets, making it the longest active winning streak in any head-to-head matchup in the NBA.
The Charlotte Hornets are trending in the right direction. For the last five weeks or so, they've played maybe the best basketball they have in years. They're not always winning, but they're playing teams much closer than in the past.
A five-game road trip continues on Monday for the Hornets (14-25), this time heading to Los Angeles to take on the Clippers (15-23). This will be the second and final meeting between the teams this season, with the Clippers taking the game in Charlotte by a score of 131-116.
Playing on the road has served the Charlotte Hornets well here of late, and tonight, they'll be hoping to climb back to within ten games of .500 with a win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Part of what makes the NBA, or any pro sports league, so compelling to watch is the narratives, especially those centered on rivalries. Throughout the decades, the NBA has fostered a number of rivalries, some long-lasting and others short but sweet.
There may be trouble brewing in Charlotte, and it is not subtle. According to ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins, LaMelo Ball and Charles Lee are not on the same page.
It didn't take long for Grant Williams to make an impact when he returned to the court after a 400+ day absence. The veteran forward checked into the game with 5:16 remaining in the first quarter, and within three minutes of game time, Williams cashed a pair of three-point shots and hauled in two offensive rebounds.
The Charlotte Hornets are fresh off one of their biggest wins in quite some time. This is an organization that has suffered for 20+ years of miserable play, but the team contains a star player capable of making fans show up on his own.
The Charlotte Hornets had no mercy Saturday night, storming past the Utah Jazz 150-95 at the Delta Center. The 55-point margin of victory was not only the highest by any team this season but also the largest road win in Charlotte history and the second-largest overall, behind only the 140-79 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in 2018.
The Charlotte Hornets took out the Utah Jazz in what might be the most lopsided game in the NBA all season. The Hornets hit a handful of threes from the left corner and got a couple of fast break buckets to jump out to an early 16-4 lead that would set the tone for how the entire game would go.
After back-to-back disappointing losses, reinforcements were on the way for the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday, as Grant Williams and Ryan Kalkbrenner were set to return to the lineup.
What unfolded in Charlotte on Friday night barely resembled a competitive NBA game. By the time the Hornets jogged into the locker room at halftime, the outcome was already decided, the margin stretched to a staggering 47 points, and the Utah Jazz looked like a team searching for answers that simply weren’t there.
LaMelo Ball scored 17 points and made five 3-pointers to lead the Charlotte Hornets to a 150-95 victory over the Utah Jazz on Saturday night. Charlotte made 24 3-pointers while shooting 41% from 3-point range.
LaMelo Ball may quickly be going down the Ja Morant route of discontent. The Charlotte Hornets star Ball has some issues with head coach Charles Lee, according to a claim this week by ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins.
It's been over a year since Charlotte Hornets forward Grant Williams suited up for an NBA game, but tonight, that drought will come to an end. Earlier this afternoon, the team officially announced that he has been upgraded from probable to available, where he will almost certainly come off the bench in a limited role.
For whatever reason, it seems like the entire NBA industry wants to see LaMelo Ball out of Charlotte. At the same time, there's this inaccurate narrative that they've also created that he doesn't take basketball seriously.
After winning two games on a three-game road trip, the Charlotte Hornets dropped a pair of heartbreakers at home to Toronto and Washington. So maybe getting away from Spectrum Center will be a good thing for this team as they open their West Coast swing with the Utah Jazz Saturday night.
The Hornets have made several late tweaks to their injury report ahead of Saturday night's matchup against the Utah Jazz, and the updates skew positive for a team that's been juggling availability issues for much of the season.
Grant Williams is expected to make his season debut tomorrow at Utah, according to the Hornets (Twitter link), who have officially listed the 27-year-old as probable to suit up against the Jazz.