Miller Sprains Left Ankle Early, Charlotte Struggles with Transition Defense, Fouling

Adding another injury – this time involving prized rookie Brandon Miller – to their already lengthy list of absences became too much for the Charlotte Hornets to work through in their 129-107 road loss in New York on Sunday afternoon.

One continued bright spot for the Hornets was LaMelo Ball, who finished with a game-high 32 points on 13-of-20 shooting – 4-of-8 from 3-point range – seven rebounds, six assists and only two turnovers in the defeat. Ball has topped 30 points in three of his last four games and has also now recorded at least 25 points in a career-best four consecutive outings.

Just like they did in Friday’s contest in Washington, the Hornets fell behind by 16 in the first half, and then closed the second quarter with a small 6-0 run to make it a 64-54 New York lead. The Knicks didn’t waste any time in the third though, opening the frame with an 18-5 stretch over the first four-and-a-half minutes of action which basically did Charlotte in for good.

The visitors canned a season-high 12-of-35 3-point attempts (34.3%), but in a rare seasonal occurrence, got outscored by New York in the paint, 62-56. Despite the solid shooting (46.8%), offense was an uphill battle for the Hornets, especially with the Knicks feasting on fast-break scoring (22), points off turnovers (20) and at the line (20-of-30).

“At the beginning of the third quarter, we got a bunch of open shots we didn’t make, and it turned into fast-break points for them at the other end,” said Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford. “Right now, we don’t have any room for error. I thought we did a lot of good things. We’re asking a lot out of a few guys right now and it’s going to be hard until we get guys back.”

Miller had a quick 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the first quarter before soon exiting the game with a left ankle sprain after he accidently stepped on Josh Hart’s foot. Nick Richards (season-high 16 points) and Mark Williams (10) were the only other Charlotte players to score in double figures. Rookies Leaky Black and Amari Bailey both notched their first NBA buckets, with Bailey’s coming right as the final buzzer sounded.

“He tried to come back in,” explained Clifford, when asked about Miller’s injury after the game. “I think it’ll be more day-to-day. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow getting treatment and stuff and hopefully, he’s good by Tuesday.”

RJ Barrett (24), Julius Randle (23) and Jalen Brunson (20) all had 20-point showings for the Knicks, who are now 11-3 since the start of last season when this trio all hits this threshold. Immanuel Quickley added 17 points, five rebounds and dished out a game-high nine assists off the bench in New York’s third consecutive victory.

The Hornets will now begin a five-game homestand with another In-Season Tournament battle against the Miami Heat on Tuesday, Nov. 14 beginning at 7 PM ET at Spectrum Center. Catch all the action on Bally Sports Southeast and WFNZ 92.7 FM.