Everything Charles Lee said following the Hornets dominating season-opening win

The Charlotte Hornets won comfortably over the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night in the season-opener by a 136-117 score. Following the game, head coach Charles Lee met with the media to discuss the win.

Here's everything Lee had to say following last night's action.

Opening statement

“The crowd was lit, as I was expecting. It was fun to be in the Spectrum, and it was fun to just have another opportunity to play a game and try to build some good habits on both sides of the ball. I think defensively, we did a lot of really good things and things that we’ll continue to try to emphasize. There are some areas where we can get better. We had a 37-point third quarter, and the second quarter, you feel like you put them in the bonus kind of early, so as good as I thought we were, we can get better. And then offensively, I loved the pace that we were pretty much able to sustain, the ball movement was great, and the first half, we had five turnovers, so we were taking care of the ball.”

Evaluation of the rookies

“We celebrated all four rookies. It’s cool to get your first victory, especially to do it here at Spectrum in front of our great fans. They made an impact from day one with their work ethic and who they are as people. And it was cool to see them impact the game today, in a lot of different ways. They were all engaged, communicating, bringing great positivity, and there was a competitive spirit to all three of them. It was a great learning experience for all three, and I’m not surprised because they’ve earned the opportunity to be out there.”

If starting Knueppel/Kalkbrenner was matchup-based or winning preseason battles

“A combination of all those factors. I thought for what we needed tonight, going up against this team, and just where we are in the season, that Ryan and Kon made sense for that unit. Sion, how he’s connected and how he’s brought it on both ends of the floor — a nastiness, a grit to him, a toughness — it’s what we needed today.”

Collin Sexton coming off the bench

“Whenever he’s in that spot to come off the bench, he shows you what he brings as soon as he comes in. Instant energy, passion, toughness, picking up guys full court, getting deflections. He’s also really helped us offensively, just being able to get the ball into the paint. Last year, I thought we created some good shots, but probably a lot of it was screen-based and not as much driving. This year, I just think we got some guys that can get really downhill if you mess up your coverages. I think he’s doing a much better job of facilitating. I know a lot of people do recognize he can score the ball, but he’s embraced the opportunity to try to be a playmaker and facilitator for his teammates.”

What it’s like having Brandon Miller back

“He adds an extra punch to our team. Melo gets it going, Miles gets it going, and now you throw Brandon into the mix and he’s going to be an elite two-way player for us, too. I also think for other teams, too, just trying to figure out their matchups. Where are you putting your best defender? Where are you putting your second-best defender? A lot of times, he’s going to benefit from how they rotate their defenders. He brings another element, another pop”