Charlotte Nearly Erases 21-PT Deficit; Los Angeles Scores 74 in Paint, Makes 35 Shots at Rim
Sensational showings from both Miles Bridges and Brandon Miller helped the Charlotte Hornets almost erase a 21-point second half hole in Monday night’s 124-118 home loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Bridges set a career high with 41 points on 16-of-26 shooting, five 3-pointers, and four assists in the loss, Charlotte’s eight straight. And right after establishing his own new career best 24 hours earlier, Miller followed up with 33 points on 13-of-25 shooting, five 3-pointers, three assists and four steals, becoming the first rookie in team history with back-to-back 30-point games.
Unlike Sunday night’s loss to Indiana, Charlotte’s offense was clicking right away in this one, making its first five shots in an efficient 58-point first half. The problem, by far, was on the defensive end, as the Lakers used their size and cutting to score 74 points (44 in the paint) on 64% shooting across the first two quarters. Los Angeles got its lead to 21 with 2:02 remaining in the third, but thanks to Bridges and Miller, the Hornets slowly started chipping away.
About 13 minutes later, Los Angeles’ cushion had shrunk down to four, with Miller scoring Charlotte’s past 12 points to make it a 117-113 game. Still up four with 33 seconds to go, Anthony Davis blocked Bridges’ step-back 3-point attempt, and the defensive board was then wrangled by Austin Reaves. Los Angeles hit all four of its ensuing free throws to ice the game.
“They crushed us in the paint,” said Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford, when asked about the team’s first-half performance. “It was individual defense, they scored on a ton of cuts, and then it was their post-ups. In the second half, we were just super aggressive, gambled more, double-teamed a lot more. It worked. It got our aggressiveness up and we guarded the ball better in the second half. We played a really good second half.”
Added Bridges, “Playing with Brandon, he’s a monster man. He’s going to be great. Great in the future – not good, great. It felt good playing with B-Mill and setting up some looks for him and it felt good for me to see some shots go down.”
PJ Washington (15) and Bryce McGowens (10) both scored in double figures off the bench. Charlotte committed only nine turnovers for nine opposing points, dished out 25 assists (18 on Sunday night) and shot 49% from the field (13-of-32 from 3-point range; 40.6%). Defensively though, the Hornets’ smaller lineups conceded a whopping 78 paint points on 79.6% shooting (39-of-49), which included 35 made buckets at the rim (35-of-42; 83.3%).
D’Angelo Russell (28), LeBron James (26) and Davis (26) all had at least 25 points for the Lakers, who shot 56.2% overall and have now won three consecutive games for the first time since early December. Davis also added a game-high 15 rebounds and a career-high-tying 11 assists for his third career triple-double, two of which have come this season. With the victory, Los Angeles moved its record to 9-2 against the Hornets since the start of the 2018-19 NBA campaign.
The Hornets will conclude their three-game homestand against the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday, Feb. 7 beginning at 7 PM ET at Spectrum Center. Follow all the action on Bally Sports Southeast and WFNZ 92.7 FM.
2024-02-05
Bridges, Miller Both Go Off In Valiant Comeback Effort Against Lakers
Sam Perley, NBA.com/Hornets
Charlotte Nearly Erases 21-PT Deficit; Los Angeles Scores 74 in Paint, Makes 35 Shots at Rim
Sensational showings from both Miles Bridges and Brandon Miller helped the Charlotte Hornets almost erase a 21-point second half hole in Monday night’s 124-118 home loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Bridges set a career high with 41 points on 16-of-26 shooting, five 3-pointers, and four assists in the loss, Charlotte’s eight straight. And right after establishing his own new career best 24 hours earlier, Miller followed up with 33 points on 13-of-25 shooting, five 3-pointers, three assists and four steals, becoming the first rookie in team history with back-to-back 30-point games.
Unlike Sunday night’s loss to Indiana, Charlotte’s offense was clicking right away in this one, making its first five shots in an efficient 58-point first half. The problem, by far, was on the defensive end, as the Lakers used their size and cutting to score 74 points (44 in the paint) on 64% shooting across the first two quarters. Los Angeles got its lead to 21 with 2:02 remaining in the third, but thanks to Bridges and Miller, the Hornets slowly started chipping away.
About 13 minutes later, Los Angeles’ cushion had shrunk down to four, with Miller scoring Charlotte’s past 12 points to make it a 117-113 game. Still up four with 33 seconds to go, Anthony Davis blocked Bridges’ step-back 3-point attempt, and the defensive board was then wrangled by Austin Reaves. Los Angeles hit all four of its ensuing free throws to ice the game.
“They crushed us in the paint,” said Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford, when asked about the team’s first-half performance. “It was individual defense, they scored on a ton of cuts, and then it was their post-ups. In the second half, we were just super aggressive, gambled more, double-teamed a lot more. It worked. It got our aggressiveness up and we guarded the ball better in the second half. We played a really good second half.”
Added Bridges, “Playing with Brandon, he’s a monster man. He’s going to be great. Great in the future – not good, great. It felt good playing with B-Mill and setting up some looks for him and it felt good for me to see some shots go down.”
PJ Washington (15) and Bryce McGowens (10) both scored in double figures off the bench. Charlotte committed only nine turnovers for nine opposing points, dished out 25 assists (18 on Sunday night) and shot 49% from the field (13-of-32 from 3-point range; 40.6%). Defensively though, the Hornets’ smaller lineups conceded a whopping 78 paint points on 79.6% shooting (39-of-49), which included 35 made buckets at the rim (35-of-42; 83.3%).
D’Angelo Russell (28), LeBron James (26) and Davis (26) all had at least 25 points for the Lakers, who shot 56.2% overall and have now won three consecutive games for the first time since early December. Davis also added a game-high 15 rebounds and a career-high-tying 11 assists for his third career triple-double, two of which have come this season. With the victory, Los Angeles moved its record to 9-2 against the Hornets since the start of the 2018-19 NBA campaign.
The Hornets will conclude their three-game homestand against the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday, Feb. 7 beginning at 7 PM ET at Spectrum Center. Follow all the action on Bally Sports Southeast and WFNZ 92.7 FM.