There was a hint of excitement on Charlotte's side last night. Despite a still complicated start to the season and an already problematic record, the Hornets recovered LaMelo Ball and Charles Lee finally had the opportunity to line up his major five Ball-Green-Bridges-Miller-Williams, a great first this season.
But even against the Sixers, also with 7 victories and deprived of Joel Embiid, Charlotte was not able to keep going, the fault of too much inconsistency over 48 minutes, but also of the mammoth matches of Tyrese Maxey and Paul George, authors of 73 points between them!
Paul George set the tone by planting 15 points, including three 3-point baskets, in the first quarter to allow Philly to take control (21-31). The Sixers were able to keep the Hornets at a good distance, with once again a hot shot from the Maxey-George pair from afar to bring the score to 40-52. Still lacking benchmarks in this system, Charlotte shone in sequences, too short but damn impressive, like these last two minutes before the break, when LaMelo Ball responded to Tyrese Maxey at 3-points before sending twice Miles Bridges in the alley-oop to crush the circle in less than 25 seconds to bring the locals to -5 at halftime after a final basket from Moussa Diabaté (49-54).
The Hornets tried to keep the suspense going, notably going 8-2 to get back to -4 (59-63), but stumbled against Philadelphia's infernal 3-point skill. To the arrows of the Maxey-George pair, a 3/3 from Eric Gordon was added to calm the enthusiasm of the Hornets for the first time at the end of the third quarter (72-89). Charlotte responded with a 14-2 to return to -4 this time (93-97).
Without giving in to panic, Philadelphia was this time able to count on the outside address of the former member of the house, Kelly Oubre Jr, then on that of Paul George, who ended the suspense with a 3-pointer and a 2 +1 before letting Tyrese Maxey finish the job to get the victory, 121 to 108.
WHAT TO REMEMBER
– A duo on a mission. Tyrese Maxey and Paul George were able to raise their level to compensate for the absence of Joel Embiid. At the finish, the first passed 40 points in front of LaMelo Ball and the second 33 with a high percentage of skill (13/20) and 8 assists to ensure the victory. The only problem is that the two had to play 40 minutes to get rid of a team that was perhaps more complicated to play than expected. But the main thing is there.
– A complete first spoiled by the injury of Brandon Miller. Finally, Charlotte has recovered all its injured since after Mark Williams and Miles Bridges, it is LaMelo Ball who made his return last night after missing seven games following a calf injury. The whole thing is clearly exciting, LaMelo Ball now having the opportunity to find players capable of finishing, inside or from afar, even if it will now be necessary to create collective experience and automatisms. We must hope that the mayonnaise sets quickly and that all players remain in good health. At the start of the fourth quarter, it was Brandon Miller who had to leave his teammates, hit in the left ankle after falling badly on the foot of Guerschon Yabusele.
