A buzzer-beating victory can galvanize a franchise, and Brandon Miller’s intoxicating response to deliver the Charlotte Frelons Their second home win of the 2024-25 season was the exact type of game that could right the rocky ship that has been the Hornets’ first two weeks of the NBA season. A raucous Spectrum Center crowd cheered the heroic Brandon Miller and his Hornets teammates, but the few cheers for the games that Charlotte’s big three, LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges and Miller and their supporting cast, did all the throughout the night, paint the picture of how the Hornets can succeed this season.

It’s becoming difficult to find the right words to describe LaMelo Ball’s exploits at the start of the season. Charlotte’s lively lead man single-handedly kept the Hornets alive in the fourth quarter with her Mary Poppins-esque bag of tricks from behind the arc. The ball can shoot from any spot on the floor, from either foot, no matter who is in front of him, whenever he wants, and his extensive shooting skills have placed him in a pantheon that contains luminaries of the NBA like Steph Curry. and Damien Lillard. He’s been so good from downtown. More than that, Wednesday night’s victory was the full realization of the LaMelo Ball experiment.

It was far from his most spectacular statistical output, but Ball was brilliant Wednesday night in what will go down as one of the most impressive performances of his young career. Ball was in complete control. He impacted the win on both ends, playing tough defense on the Pistons’ turbocharged backcourt without fouling while serving as the engine of Charlotte’s offense from the jump. LaMelo’s scoring charge in the fourth quarter will grab headlines, but he made play after play for his teammates while limiting the stupid turnovers and tick-tock fouls that have plagued the otherwise first two weeks of the season excellent. The LaMelo Ball who played tonight, finishing with 25 points, eight assists and six rebounds, is an asset to an All-NBA bid and the main source of energy that will allow Charlotte’s overloaded offense to come into play. lice.

Tonight was Bridges’ best performance under Charles Lee. Hornets coach spoke before game on what he wanted to see from Miles tonight and in the future, and the veteran swingman delivered on his promise against his hometown team. “I think offensively he kind of has the same mindset. He’s doing really well in his running habits and trying to get out of it, but he’s just learning, I think, offensively, the new spots in which he is on the court. The message I have “I need you to be decisive, I need you to be aggressive and I need you to be confident in every catch. “Message received.

Bridges was aggressive (check) to win the cup in the first half, marching to the free throw line as the Hornets’ most consistent offensive source early in tonight’s action. His returns in 2024 have been marred by offensive inactivity and a propensity to float around the perimeter without the ball, but Bridges was decisive (control) tonight in his decision-making. He had a quick trigger on jump shots, but an even quicker first step when going downhill. Bridges played with confidence (check) offensively, and that gave Charlotte the spark it needed to get through tonight’s offensive droughts. His fearlessness in attacking Detroit’s burly front line of Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duren set the tone for the Hornets.

The top scorer of last year is certainly the Hornets’ third option on offense behind Ball and Miller, but we have yet to see much of his scoring prowess this season. Tonight, Bridges’ all-around offensive game was on full display, and he added a new dimension to Charlotte’s outside offense that will continue to progress as he settles into his new role as the Hornets’ third banana.

Tonight was far from Miller’s best performance as a professional basketball player, but it was also exactly that. A professional evening.

The second-year guard struggled to knock down jumpers (3/11 from distance), but every shot Miller made had weight. His long-range shots came at opportune moments to quell a Pistons surge or start a Hornets run, and while it was difficult to find his range, Miller’s ever-present gravitas is a strength in itself. His shooting ability has opened up driving lanes for his teammates, and those gases will only continue to spread once Miller turns on his jumper.

His game-winning goal was a perfect encapsulation of the kind of big plays Miller was drafted for.

Following a costly turnover that allowed Detroit to take the lead, many players would sulk and consider tonight’s game a lost cause. Not Miller. He held his head high (and credited his veteran teammates and coaching staff for adjusting their attitude) and let his instincts take over to hit the Piston while trying to lock him out with a swimming move to grab the offensive board and push away the game winner. the glass at the buzzer. That’s the kind of play you can’t teach, and it’s the kind of play Miller has the ability to make because of his size, athleticism and IQ.

These 2024-25 Charlotte Hornets successes will come from these three players. Ball, Bridges and Miller are good for high-flying highlights every night (like the four alley-oops they combined to kick off tonight), but these Top 10 plays ultimately have to translate into a basketball victory -ball. Tonight, that’s what happened, and it laid out the broad outlines of how each of the three must play for the Hornets to compete in the future. The atmosphere at Spectrum Center was euphoric, and it came to a head on the backs of Charlotte’s big three.

What if they continue to build on the habits they showed against Detroit? So tonight is just the beginning of something special brewing in the Queen City.

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