The Charlotte Hornets and Brooklyn Nets are experiencing their share of difficulties this season.
The Hornets are coming off two straight home wins and are attempting to win a third in a row Monday night when they face the Nets, who are 0-9 at home, in New York.
Charlotte snapped a seven-game skid by earning a 123-116 win over the Chicago Bulls on Friday, then followed it up with a 118-111 overtime win over the Toronto Raptors on Saturday. Charlotte fell behind by 13 less than three minutes into the contest and trailed by 17 with 4:49 left in the first quarter before gradually rallying.
After cutting their deficit to six by halftime, the Hornets overcame a 12-point gap in the final 5:57 of the fourth. Rookie Kon Knueppel hit a tying 3-pointer with 10.1 seconds left in regulation.
Miles Bridges scored 35 points after getting 22 on Friday. Knueppel finished with 20, marking the 10th time he had 20-plus points this season.
Aside from their first consecutive wins, the Hornets may be starting to get healthier.
LaMelo Ball played 22 minutes on the second night of a back-to-back after playing on Friday. Since returning from an ankle injury Nov. 14, Ball is averaging 16.1 points in seven games and has only sat twice.
Brandon Miller has played four games since missing nearly a month with a shoulder injury. He scored 66 points in his first three games back, including 27 on Friday, but finished with seven on 1-of-13 shooting Saturday.
“Definitely another positive step for those two guys being able to play in a back-to-back,” coach Charles Lee said. “With that, though, comes me still being mindful of not pushing it too far as we enter that next tier of their return-to-play programs.
“I’m excited for them, I know they’ve been working really hard, and they’ve been responding well to the minutes that we’ve been able to give them so far. … They definitely help our team in a lot of different ways.”
The Nets opened their season with a 136-117 loss in Charlotte on Oct. 22, and recent games have seen their rookies get more time.
Egor Demin, the eighth overall pick, scored a career-high 23 in Friday’s 115-103 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. Demin did not play in Saturday’s 116-99 loss at Milwaukee because the team is still managing a foot injury he sustained in the offseason.
Demin entered the starting lineup on Nov. 7 and, in 10 games, is averaging 10.8 points on 39.8% shooting.
On Saturday, Danny Wolf saw his most extensive minutes and led the Nets with 22 points while making 8 of 16 field-goal attempts and 5 of 9 3-point attempts in 30 minutes during his fifth career game.
“He looked comfortable. His shot looked really good. I’m really proud of him for being ready and performing at this level,” Brooklyn coach Jordi Fernandez said.
The Nets are also playing Drake Powell nearly 20 minutes a game off the bench, and he owns a pair of 15-point games so far.
Brooklyn returns home on a four-game losing streak. Saturday was the least competitive of Brooklyn’s recent losses as it trailed by 32 with just over five minutes left in the third and wound up allowing 16 threes, 18 fastbreak points and committing 20 turnovers.
The Nets played their last two games without Michael Porter Jr. due to back tightness he felt during last Monday’s loss to the Knicks. He’s listed as probable for the game vs. Charlotte on the official injury report.
–Field Level Media
