A frank, player-led exchange at halftime in the nation’s capital helped the Charlotte Hornets reset ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Miami to take on the Heat.
Trailing Washington 62-51 at the half Sunday, the Hornets rallied on the back of a candid discussion at the long break, outscoring the Wizards 44-26 and 44-25 across the final two quarters.
“We went into the locker room and had some arguments,” LaMelo Ball said after Charlotte’s 139-113 win. “Everybody took (losing) personal, and we said, ‘We’re going to get this.’”
Hornets coach Charles Lee wasn’t privy to those robust discussions but said he welcomed the tough-love accountability shown by his group.
“Anytime you have a family member that’s not living up to the standards of the house, sometimes there may be words said,” Lee said. “It’s all from a place of love and a place of trying to help the team be better. It’s an effort to make that person the best they can possibly be. I wasn’t there, but I think when players take ownership of the standards and expectations of everyone, that’s always a good thing.”
Ball was the standout with 38 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists — his 11th career triple-double and first since Nov. 5, 2023.
Miles Bridges added 22 points and Collin Sexton finished with 20. Rookie Kon Knueppel, the No. 4 pick in this year’s draft, posted 11 of his 20 points during Charlotte’s third-quarter surge.
Lee said the Hornets, after several seasons in the doldrums, are embracing a fresh mindset.
“We want to be different,” he said. “If you want different results, you have to think differently, you have to act differently. The players are doing that, and they’re doing it with their actions.”
Charlotte can’t afford a similar slow start in Miami, with the Heat coming off a statement 115-107 victory over the New York Knicks on Sunday.
Norman Powell put 29 points on last season’s Eastern Conference finalists, while Bam Adebayo paired 19 points with 13 boards. Miami has scored 382 points this season, the most by any Heat team after the first three games.
Powell, acquired from the Los Angeles Clippers in July as part of a three-team deal also involving Utah, is thriving in Miami’s fast-paced attack, averaging 24 points per game. His career high for a season, set last year, was 21.8 ppg.
“Even when I was playing against the Heat, they tried to play fast, especially early in my career,” Powell said. “I’d always have a great game against them because that’s my style of play — getting up and down the floor, attacking the rim.”
Adebayo, a Miami mainstay since being drafted in 2017, said the Heat’s tempo is something they intend to sustain, even into the postseason.
“We want to keep this pace up the whole season, not just the first 5-10 games,” he said. “When you build it as a habit, then you get to the next stage of the season, that’s when it really matters. That’s when people tend to slow down, and for us, we want to keep that pace. In the playoffs, everybody’s trying to play half-court offense, and we’re getting that ball off the rim and we’re running. You feel alive because everybody feels involved.”