April 3, 2025 • 21 mins
The Hornets had the opportunity to sweep the season series against Indiana this season, but will have to settle for a series win after a 119-105 loss in the Hoosier State. Rob Longo and Sam Perley of Hornets.com react to the game and pick their silver-lining performances, and also provide some new on the injury front, including LaMelo Ball undergoing successful arthroscopic surgery to repair ankle and wrist injuries.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Hornets Podcast presented by Charlotte I ear
nosen Throat Associates, the official I ear nozen Throatcare provider
of the Charlotte Hornets. Here's your host, Rob Longo.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hi, friends, and welcome to today's episode of the Hornets Hoodcast,
the official podcast of the Charlotte Hornets, brought to you
by Santa Charlotte, I ear Nose and Throat Associates, the
official I ear nos Throacare provider of your Charlotte Hornets.
Rob Longo with you on. Unfortunately, a silver Linings edition
of the HC Charlotte falls into Indiana last night one
nineteen to one oh five. Hornets still do take the
(00:34):
season series though, two games to one against the Pacers.
Charlotte now nineteen and fifty seven on the campaign. We'll
break this one down for you to provide you with
our silver Lining selections. There were a couple to pick
from in the game yesterday, and unfortunately you have to
give you an injury update on a couple of the
Hornets players, some good, some not so good, but we
will provide you all those updates here a little bit
(00:55):
later on. And helping me out with all these topics
here on this episode of the AHHC. It's the one
and only lead writer of Hornets dot Com, Sam Proley,
and Sam thank you for joining me on this episode
of the Hornets podcast. This one for the Hornets yesterday again,
Fall one, nineteen to one oh five out in Indiana yesterday.
This one seems I don't want to say doomed from
the get go, but it just felt like the Hornets
(01:15):
got off to a little bit of a sluggish start.
I mean, they trailed by seven after the first quarter,
trailed it by eight going into the locker room at halftime,
and then Indiana was able to open up a fourteen
point advantage going into that fourth quarter. Hornet shot seventy
six and a half percent from the field in the
fourth frame. The problem was, well, they were already on
fourteen points at that point and Indiana shot sixty percent
(01:35):
from the field and both teams scored thirty two points
in that quarter. So hard to make up that deficit
even though you shot a really good percentage there in
that fourth frame. But it just felt like the Hornets
early on. A number that stood out to me were
the turnover. Charlotte turn a ball over six times in
a first quarter resulted in eleven Indiana points. At halftime,
the Hornets had ten turnovers and it resulted in thirteen
Pacers points. So to me, that was kind of the
(01:56):
interesting thing in this one yesterday where the Hornets ended
up lose thin. But for me, it was the turnovers
early on. It really costs Charlotte.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
One hundred percent. And I didn't look at the box
score necessarily, at least the turnover part until the end
of the game. But as you're watching the game and
you're seeing the turnovers kind of add up, and how
many transition opportunities the Pacers were generating, you're like, oh,
I think that number is going to be pretty high.
And again, you know, eighteen is you know, when you're
shooting like the Hornets did fifty three percent forty two
(02:24):
percent from three. I mean, they shot the ball really well.
Their shot shot. There's a lot of green on it
right now. But when you have eighteen turnovers, it's manageable.
When you give up twenty nine points the other way, okay,
a little less manageable. And again, like a problem that's
been for the Hornets, uh in a handful of games recently.
It's just the differential. It's so wide because that eighteen
turnovers to twenty nine points becomes that much more glaring
(02:47):
when they only for six turnovers and score four points
off of them. So that's a twenty nine to four
differential in points off turnovers, and then just eighteen to
six and the turnovers in general. So I think the
Raptors game the other day, the Raptors had a season
and low for turnovers, I want to say it was
like six or seven. And it's just, you know, whether
it's a defensive seam and the Hornets defense has been
I think pretty solid lately. It's you know, it's top
(03:08):
twenty in the NBA now, and it's just it just
doesn't generate a lot of turnovers right now. And maybe
without LaMelo Ball and some of these guys, they just
they don't want a necessarily play in transition. They want
to slow it down, get in the half court, take
quality shots. But it's just something interesting is they just
aren't generating a ton of turnovers right now. And I
don't think it's because a lack of defense necessarily. I
(03:28):
just think it's maybe just the personnel. They just you know,
the way they're playing the way they cover things like that.
It's just not something that's part of their defensive identity
right now, and it just you see it more when
they're having these games where their own turnovers are, you know,
in that's sixteen, seventeen, eighteen nineteen range.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
We'll get more into the box score here in a
moment in our silver lying selection and take a look
at some of the numbers in this contest. But something
that just stood out to me here, Sam, when you
were talking about the shooting percentage there, kind of jogged
my memory a little bit. I remember fifty three percent
for some reason being one of the better percentages here
for the Hornets this year, and now that I look
at it, it's been pretty good as of late. When
(04:07):
it's all things considered. Charlotte ended up officially shooting fifty
two point six percent in the game last night, So
fifty two point six puts that at the fourth best
shooting percentage this season for Charlotte. The third best shooting
percentage was out in Utah a couple months ago, back
in the middle of January. The second best percentage was
(04:27):
that win against the Jazz on Monday at Spectrum Center.
So that's two consecutive games now here that Charlotte has
had some of its better shooting percentages of the season. Now, again,
the turnovers have been an issue in all of these
games for Charlotte, but at least offensively, it seems like
things are kind of looking up in a sense. And
I'm trying to make heads or tails with this, because again,
(04:48):
you don't have LaMelo Ball, you don't have Brandon Miller,
you don't have Grant Williams, you don't have Trade Man,
you have a lot of guys that are not available
for the rest of the season or have been out
for very long, and somehow this team is almost shooting
a better percentage. So this just feels all kinds of
weirded out. Can you make heads or tails of this?
Because I certainly sure can.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
We're really interesting to see how well the offense has
been shooting and how efficient it has been lately. And
I was like, you kind of like, again, saw the
end of the games, like fifty three percent. You know,
those are obviously very strong numbers. You know, when you
see those, you kind of expect, Okay, they had a
really good night offensively, and I think they were taking
good shots. I think they were getting into the half
(05:28):
court a little bit more, not trying to out tempo
or out transition the pacers in this one. But you know,
again the turnovers, which you talked about earlier, but just overall,
I think lately they've been doing a really good job
of getting the ball into the paint. They've got some
really efficient production from Mark Williams use of Nurkic. You've
seen more opposing defense is kind of a collapse in
on those guys, and uh, you know, we've talked a
(05:49):
little bit about Mark Williams playmaking at this point of
the season, and he's becoming he's really taking on a
a heightened role as a passer, and him in use
of Nurkic as well, are doing a really good job
of you know, getting the ball into the paint, catching
those scene passes and then firing out to the perimeter
for you know, three point attempts or it's kind of
swinging around the perimeter, and they're just generating better shots
and better looks, or at least they're taking better shots.
(06:11):
And I think that was something Charles Lee mentioned after
this Indiana game, and they thought the shot selection was
pretty good. It's just again, you have to be able
to get those shots up and not turn the ball
over at the rate that they did against the Pacers.
So I'm curious and now that I've kind of seen,
you know, there's been a little bit of a spike
in some of these fifty one fifty two percent shooting games,
to go back and look at the some of those
(06:33):
games and see if there's any consistency with them. And overall,
the thing I think really stands out the most is
I think the Hornet's doing a better job of getting
the ball into the paint, and when they do that,
it kind of opens everything else up for the other
four guys or three guys in some cases on the floor.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Again, Hornet's fall one nineteen to one HO five last
night in Indiana as the Pacers look to solidify the
fourth seed in the Eastern Conference against Charlotte. Now on
the season falls to nineteen and fifty seven, but a
couple of outstanding performances by some of the Hornets players,
including Miles Bridges' team high eighteen points, Mark Williams with
another double double, Seth Curry sixteen points in the starting role,
(07:10):
use of Nrkins thirteen points off the bench, as well,
just a couple of candidates here for our silverlying selections,
which we will provide for you next here on a
Hornets iive cast. It's a silver linings edition of the AJHC.
Rob Longo and the lead writer of Hornets dot Com
Sam Parley, with you here as we select our silver
linings from last night's game. Before we went to break there,
(07:31):
gave you a rundown of some of the notable performances
there for some Hornets players in the lost yesterday again
one nineteen to one oh five, the final tally out
in Indiana. Sam Purley, you are the guest of honor.
I will always let you go first. Who is your
silverlying selection from the game last night?
Speaker 3 (07:46):
My silver lining is Seth Curry. Really impressive. He had
some really tough shots to start this game, especially in
that left corner three when he just never ceased to
amaze me with how little room some of these guys
have that Not only and they get the shot off
without having it swatted ten rows into the stands, but
they can also make it like it's nothing. So he
(08:06):
finished this one sixteen points on six to seven shooting,
hit both of his three point attempts perfect from the
line as well. Said four assists or excuse me, four
rebounds to assist a steal in twenty nine minutes, which
I think was actually almost thirty minutes his most minutes
played since February ninth. Obviously had to pick up a
little bit more with some of the injuries, Nick Smith
(08:26):
being out, Josh Green, and later Damian Bob. We'll talk
about a little later on, but I think Seth was
one of eight from three in his past two games,
goes two of two in this one, getting back on
track to make one last push for that three point
percentage title. I tried to do the math after the
game and see kind of where he's at. I think
he's at forty four point nine percent right now, which
(08:47):
is a tenth of a point back of the league
leader Torrean Prints. Seth does need one more make in
order to qualify, but I think once you get to
the game Friday, he'll need two. Basically, you have to
have one three pointer per game, and I think Seth
is right now. He's at seventy five threes made on
the season in seventy six games played, so he's like
(09:10):
whatever a point nine to nine threes or whatever it
is per game. So I'm excited it's and it's really
cool as the Sacramento's got two guys that are also
chasing this as well, and Kean Allison zach Lavine who
entered last night. I think third and fourth in the
NBA and three point percentage with Luke Canard or maybe
Luke Canard's third and then Kean Allison zach Lavine are
(09:31):
third and fourth, so or fourth and fifth, excuse me,
so shaping out to be a tight race and definitely something.
As somebody who loves numbers and statistics, I'm particularly fascinated with.
Speaker 4 (09:40):
The rebound ripped away by kJ Simpson doesn't have numbers.
I don't think he minds. Right now, he'll peat Seth
Curry open look for a three, Yes, sir, Seth Curry
drilling another lows three point shot his first of the game.
He needs eight more, I mean now in the end
of the season to qualify for a three point percentage title.
Speaker 5 (09:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
The easiest way that I'm kind of describing this is basically,
just get the eighty two May threes by the end
of the season so you can qualify. That's kind of
the easiest way that I look at it. So now
that he has seventy five, needs seven more threes between
now and the end of the season to qualify for
the field goal percentage, and of course the higher efficiency,
the better his chances are would be to be that
all time three point percentage getter for the season and
(10:22):
lead the league in three point percentage. But Seth played
great yesterday, especially inside the three point line too. I
thought he had a couple of nifty little moves around
the rim. He had a really good step back there
and got crashed into had an in one opportunity. I
think that was in a third quarter, and it was
a really electric play and again Eric Collins just so passionate,
and I saw it on the TV feed. I don't
(10:42):
know if anybody else caught this in real time, but
I saw it out of the corner of my eye
on the road in Indiana. The TV crew is on
the floor and you can see in the background Eric
Collins stands up and gives this massive fist pump when
Seth made the shot. I haven't been able to go
back and listen to Eric's call on it. I'm sure
it's electric because it's Derek Collins, but it was just
really funny that he was so fired up about this
(11:02):
play in the third quarter of a season where the
Hornets are now nineteen and fifty seven, and he just
brought the energy and he brought the juice like he
did on the podcast yesterday previewing the Hornets and Pacers,
and that's why we love Eric so much. But it
was just a really cool moment and a really cool
play by Seth Curry too. He had another big play
a little bit later on in the game to my
silverlying selection, and that's going to be Mark Williams.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
Seth Curry throws the lob sat by.
Speaker 5 (11:27):
Mark Williams, how he tipped it in OH Play of
the Year candidate zero point two on the clock and
Seth Curry a perfect lob and the Duke connection works
out that.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Play by Mark Williams of Seth Curry shot clocks winding
down two tenths of a second, Seth lobs it in
from the sideline. Mark's able to go toe to toe
with Miles Turner and tip it up and over the
ten for the two points. And again it's in one
of those plays where does it change the final outcome. No,
but it was a heck of a play and as
Sam said, right, there might be Playing of the Year
candidate for this Hornets franchise. So Mark Williams another double
(12:03):
double in the contest yesterday. He's now up to twenty
on the regular season. Sixteen points, six of eight from
the floor, four for six at the free throw line.
He also had twelve rebounds. He only had one assist,
and I say only because something that you touched on
earlier here in the podcast, Sam, was the way that
Mark Williams has been able to facilitate a lot. And
that's something that I picked up as well. A couple
of weeks ago. I asked Charles Lee about it in
(12:24):
one of the pregame availabilities, just about how Mark's starting
to really facilitate and the assist numbers are looking really good.
And I asked him if it was maybe a byproduct
of use of Nurkice being on a roster, maybe he's
picking up some things from nrk Is it something else?
Is it some schemes that they're running, And he basically
said that Mark's in the team, he's making the right decisions,
He's able to find the guys cutting to the rim,
and that's basically why he's able to have those high
(12:47):
assist numbers. Now again, he didn't have a lot of
assists in that contest yesterday against Indiana, but it's something
that's a skill set for Mark that's really improved compared
to when he came out of Duke. I think that
the biggest notion for Mark Williams was He's gonna go
out there and get you a double double. He's still
doing that, obviously, he's still giving you sixteen and twelve
like he did yesterday, but that was kind of like
his only facet of his game and felt like he
(13:09):
can attack the rim. He could be a big pick
and roll partner, and he can go out there and
get your rebounds to get you points and buckets around
the rim and be a rim protector. But now he's
starting to facilitate a little bit more. He's starting to
be able to play a little bit away from the rim.
We saw him attempt a three point shot yesterday in
the second half. It was blocked, so back to the
drawing board in that sense. But it seems like Marcus
was playing with a lot of confidence right now all around.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
For sure, And to be fair to Mark, I think
that three pointer, I want to say the shot clock
was about to go off hot potato. He was the
one that had to put it up and led to
a very let's say, definitive rejection into the crowd. I
think it was Miles Turner. But yeah, looking at Mark
Splitz right now or stats from this year, two point
six assists per game right now. Last year he's at
(13:51):
one point two. He only played nineteen games, and as
a rookie was at zero point four assist per game.
So he's more than doubled where he tripled from his
rookie to a second year and then has more than
doubled from last year to this year. And I think
this is a skill set that is something that, like
you said, you know, maybe he's picked up a little
bit of tips for him from use of nurkics. You
see it more with a lot of those European guys
(14:12):
in particular are very very good passers, and you've seen
that from use of a lot already in his you know,
short Charlotte tenure thus far. And I think it's a
skill set that I'm excited to see continue to grow
for Mark Williams. And it's one of those things you
kind of look, oh, four assists, five assists, six assists,
you know, three assists, a lot of you know, fifteen
ten five kind of games. I think it's a skill
(14:33):
set that, you know, it's something he can certainly work
on and continue developing is to get into the offseason
and into next year as well. But it's certainly something
that's that's kind of one of the fun times about
this year. And as you get to experiment a little
bit more, we've seen a little bit of the those
double big lineups in very small sample sizes, and it's
not necessarily something that's going to is he going to
(14:54):
be shooting threes or midle ridge jumpers a ton next year?
Taking five, six, seven attempts a game, not as saily,
but you go out there, you take one a game,
and if you get comfortable with it and you can
figure out your spots, then you kind of move it
up a little bit more. So this is kind of
that time of year, while you know the Hornets have
been unfortunately eliminated for playoff contention, do you see some
you know, kind of interesting stuff that you know is
(15:16):
certainly worthy of making note of that you can kind
of file away for later on down the line.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Mark Williams and seth carry some of our silver lining selections.
Couple tips of the cap. Of course, Miles bridges a
couple points shy of another twenty point performance. He finishes
with eighteen four and five in the game yesterday, very
efficient as well, seven to ten from the floor, two
for three from beyond the york as well use of
Narkis thirteen points off the bench, along with five rebounds
and to assists. He ends up going five of six
(15:43):
from the field and three for six at the free
throw line. So again all talies up to a one
nineteen to one oh five loss out in Indiana, and
Hornets got some more bumps and bruises in that game yesterday,
but also got some news on the injury front as
well with LaMelo Ball. We will talk about that next
here on the Hornets. Rob Longo and Sam Perley putting
(16:06):
a button on this episode of the Hornets Podcast, as
always proudly brought to you by SENTA, wanted to give
you guys a little bit of an injury update, So
let's begin with the bad first. After the game yesterday
in Indiana again, one nineteen to one oh five loss
for the Hornets out in Indianapolis, a couple of guys
were banged up in that one. Josh Green got injured
(16:27):
in the first half did not return for the second half.
He was out the rest of the game with a
shoulder injury. Damian Ball took a hard fall there late
in the third quarter as well, right before the fourth frame.
He did not return to the contest as well. Again,
because of the recording of this podcast, we don't have
any injury updates on you, but just on those, but
just wanted to make everybody aware of that as well.
The good news, though, centers around LaMelo Ball. The Hornets
(16:48):
announced late yesterday that LaMelo Ball underwent Arthur scoptic surgery
on his right ankle and his right wrist at the
Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. Ball is
expecting to make a full recovery and return to full
bastball activity within four to six weeks. Of course, Hornet's
pr will provide additional updates on his status as they
are appropriate. So again, not a huge update on the
(17:09):
LaMelo Ball front, but he did have the surgery, he
got it out of the way, four to six weeks
for his return to basketball activities. That's the good news again.
The unfortunate news here for the Hornets is Josh Green
and Damian Bob did leave the contest yesterday. Don't know
the status of them moving forward, but again let's go
ahead and begin with those guys or wherever you kind
of want to go here, Sam, but around the Josh
Green Damien Boss situation. Look, there's six games left. You're
(17:32):
not looking to rush anybody back if they're not fully healthy.
So we don't know the status in them moving forward,
but it's just reality the situation that the season is
winding down, and that's something to keep an eye on. Also,
Nixon Junior did not play in a game yesterday. Do
it an ankle spraying? Again, if everybody's not one hundred
percent right now, there's six games left, we'll just keep
it at that, so you don't want to rush anybody
back in case it's something that could linger and maybe
(17:54):
turn into something worse unfortunately, So just something to keep
in mind of. But then at the same time, too,
lamel bow ball getting that surgery out of the way
and getting ready to go, so hopefully he has a
thought is full of an offseason, full of the summer
to develop that he possibly can.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Josh Green has been a bit of an iron man
for the Hornets this year. He leads the team in
games played with it will be now sixty eight counting
last night, Mussa Diabate a second at sixty seven, Seth
Curry at sixty four, and Miles Burdges at sixty one.
And for Nick Smith, he had played twenty five games
in a row before having to sit out last night
(18:28):
in Indiana with that ankle sprain. Last you mentioned, I
think his last game that he missed was maybe like
February eighth or ninth, something like that range in Detroit.
So yeah, at this point of the season, I mean,
everybody's on fumes, and especially when you've you've had so
many other injuries on the roster to some high you
know usage guys, you know Trey Man, Grant Williams, Brandon Miller,
(18:50):
obviously LaMelo Ball we talked about. You know, everybody is
taking has had to take on a more of a
heightened role, more responsibility, more shots, time on the minutes,
and you know it's not always something that's you're not
that you're not necessarily used to it, but it does
take a little bit of an adjustment, you know, if
you're used to playing, you know, fifteen to eighteen minutes
(19:11):
a game, and all of a sudden you've got to
spend twenty seven to thirty minutes for the next thirty games.
That does kind of have a cumulative toll, and you
know that some of that could be in play a
little bit too. But again, like you said, you know,
with guys getting banged up, and obviously Damien's boss fall
looked particularly you know, like it hurt. I mean, he
came down, you know, pretty hard and had to be
helped off the court. You know, it doesn't make any
(19:32):
sense to kind of rush guys back in, and if anything,
like we said, it gives a little bit more of
an opportunity, a little bit more responsibility, to try some
different lineups and get some guys in. But at this point,
like you said, the Hornets will air on the side
of caution. If you can play and you're healthy enough
to play, you'll play. If not, probably lean to be
more careful than not in these situations, just given where
the season is at at this point.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Again, six more games to go here on the schedule
for Charlotte, three of them the next three will be
the final home stand of the season. Will kick off
on Friday against the Sacramento Kings, and then Sunday an
afternoon affair against the Chicago Bulls, and then fan Appreciation
Night Tuesday against the Memphis Grizzlies on the first night
of a back to back, before the Hornet hit the
road to take on the Toronto Raptors north of the
(20:14):
border on the second night of a back to back
next Wednesday, and then we'll wrap up with two games
in Boston on Friday and Sunday the following week. But
to preview the matchup on Friday, Sam Pearley will be
with Sam Farber to get you set for that showdown
on tomorrow's episode of the Hornets time Cast. So Sam Purley,
thank you for joining me on this episode of the
Hornets pod Cast, and thank you for the off day
tomorrow for.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
Me, of course, I think, and that's funny because this
is the last thing I'm doing today, and I think
the first thing I'm doing tomorrow morning when I get
into the arena is sitting down with Sam Farber and
recording another podcast. So I'm I'm kind of bookending my
you know, go to sleep of the podcast and then
waking up with one as well, so as always, thank
you for having me and uh yeah, I appreciate it.
(20:54):
You're welcome for the off day as well.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
And you have my condolences for having to talk to
Sam Farber first thing in the more, but I will
leave it at that.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
We'll be first sad morning. I'll be up and at
him a little bit. You have a little coffee first,
get a little energy, you know, make sure he kind
of you know, he's you know, coming home. He's gonna
have a late night early morning too. So it's my responsibility.
I gotta bring a little bit more energy and kind
of set the tone tomorrow morning.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Wait to be that energy guy off the bench. Should
be a fun podcast episode tomorrow between you and Sam Farber.
I'm rob a longo saying so long. Thank you for
joining us on this episode of the Hornets Podcast. Big
thank you of course to Sam Parley as well. The
two Sam's will preview the Hornets and Kings on tomorrow's
episode of the HHC.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Thank you for listening to The Hornets Podcast, brought to
you by Santa the official i ear Nosen Throat Care
provider of the Charlotte Hornets. For more coverage, visit Hornets
dot com
Welcome to the Hornets Podcast presented by Charlotte I ear
nosen Throat Associates, the official I ear nozen Throatcare provider
of the Charlotte Hornets. Here's your host, Rob Longo.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hi, friends, and welcome to today's episode of the Hornets Hoodcast,
the official podcast of the Charlotte Hornets, brought to you
by Santa Charlotte, I ear Nose and Throat Associates, the
official I ear nos Throacare provider of your Charlotte Hornets.
Rob Longo with you on. Unfortunately, a silver Linings edition
of the HC Charlotte falls into Indiana last night one
nineteen to one oh five. Hornets still do take the
(00:34):
season series though, two games to one against the Pacers.
Charlotte now nineteen and fifty seven on the campaign. We'll
break this one down for you to provide you with
our silver Lining selections. There were a couple to pick
from in the game yesterday, and unfortunately you have to
give you an injury update on a couple of the
Hornets players, some good, some not so good, but we
will provide you all those updates here a little bit
(00:55):
later on. And helping me out with all these topics
here on this episode of the AHHC. It's the one
and only lead writer of Hornets dot Com, Sam Proley,
and Sam thank you for joining me on this episode
of the Hornets podcast. This one for the Hornets yesterday again,
Fall one, nineteen to one oh five out in Indiana yesterday.
This one seems I don't want to say doomed from
the get go, but it just felt like the Hornets
(01:15):
got off to a little bit of a sluggish start.
I mean, they trailed by seven after the first quarter,
trailed it by eight going into the locker room at halftime,
and then Indiana was able to open up a fourteen
point advantage going into that fourth quarter. Hornet shot seventy
six and a half percent from the field in the
fourth frame. The problem was, well, they were already on
fourteen points at that point and Indiana shot sixty percent
(01:35):
from the field and both teams scored thirty two points
in that quarter. So hard to make up that deficit
even though you shot a really good percentage there in
that fourth frame. But it just felt like the Hornets
early on. A number that stood out to me were
the turnover. Charlotte turn a ball over six times in
a first quarter resulted in eleven Indiana points. At halftime,
the Hornets had ten turnovers and it resulted in thirteen
Pacers points. So to me, that was kind of the
(01:56):
interesting thing in this one yesterday where the Hornets ended
up lose thin. But for me, it was the turnovers
early on. It really costs Charlotte.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
One hundred percent. And I didn't look at the box
score necessarily, at least the turnover part until the end
of the game. But as you're watching the game and
you're seeing the turnovers kind of add up, and how
many transition opportunities the Pacers were generating, you're like, oh,
I think that number is going to be pretty high.
And again, you know, eighteen is you know, when you're
shooting like the Hornets did fifty three percent forty two
(02:24):
percent from three. I mean, they shot the ball really well.
Their shot shot. There's a lot of green on it
right now. But when you have eighteen turnovers, it's manageable.
When you give up twenty nine points the other way, okay,
a little less manageable. And again, like a problem that's
been for the Hornets, uh in a handful of games recently.
It's just the differential. It's so wide because that eighteen
turnovers to twenty nine points becomes that much more glaring
(02:47):
when they only for six turnovers and score four points
off of them. So that's a twenty nine to four
differential in points off turnovers, and then just eighteen to
six and the turnovers in general. So I think the
Raptors game the other day, the Raptors had a season
and low for turnovers, I want to say it was
like six or seven. And it's just, you know, whether
it's a defensive seam and the Hornets defense has been
I think pretty solid lately. It's you know, it's top
(03:08):
twenty in the NBA now, and it's just it just
doesn't generate a lot of turnovers right now. And maybe
without LaMelo Ball and some of these guys, they just
they don't want a necessarily play in transition. They want
to slow it down, get in the half court, take
quality shots. But it's just something interesting is they just
aren't generating a ton of turnovers right now. And I
don't think it's because a lack of defense necessarily. I
(03:28):
just think it's maybe just the personnel. They just you know,
the way they're playing the way they cover things like that.
It's just not something that's part of their defensive identity
right now, and it just you see it more when
they're having these games where their own turnovers are, you know,
in that's sixteen, seventeen, eighteen nineteen range.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
We'll get more into the box score here in a
moment in our silver lying selection and take a look
at some of the numbers in this contest. But something
that just stood out to me here, Sam, when you
were talking about the shooting percentage there, kind of jogged
my memory a little bit. I remember fifty three percent
for some reason being one of the better percentages here
for the Hornets this year, and now that I look
at it, it's been pretty good as of late. When
(04:07):
it's all things considered. Charlotte ended up officially shooting fifty
two point six percent in the game last night, So
fifty two point six puts that at the fourth best
shooting percentage this season for Charlotte. The third best shooting
percentage was out in Utah a couple months ago, back
in the middle of January. The second best percentage was
(04:27):
that win against the Jazz on Monday at Spectrum Center.
So that's two consecutive games now here that Charlotte has
had some of its better shooting percentages of the season. Now, again,
the turnovers have been an issue in all of these
games for Charlotte, but at least offensively, it seems like
things are kind of looking up in a sense. And
I'm trying to make heads or tails with this, because again,
(04:48):
you don't have LaMelo Ball, you don't have Brandon Miller,
you don't have Grant Williams, you don't have Trade Man,
you have a lot of guys that are not available
for the rest of the season or have been out
for very long, and somehow this team is almost shooting
a better percentage. So this just feels all kinds of
weirded out. Can you make heads or tails of this?
Because I certainly sure can.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
We're really interesting to see how well the offense has
been shooting and how efficient it has been lately. And
I was like, you kind of like, again, saw the
end of the games, like fifty three percent. You know,
those are obviously very strong numbers. You know, when you
see those, you kind of expect, Okay, they had a
really good night offensively, and I think they were taking
good shots. I think they were getting into the half
(05:28):
court a little bit more, not trying to out tempo
or out transition the pacers in this one. But you know,
again the turnovers, which you talked about earlier, but just overall,
I think lately they've been doing a really good job
of getting the ball into the paint. They've got some
really efficient production from Mark Williams use of Nurkic. You've
seen more opposing defense is kind of a collapse in
on those guys, and uh, you know, we've talked a
(05:49):
little bit about Mark Williams playmaking at this point of
the season, and he's becoming he's really taking on a
a heightened role as a passer, and him in use
of Nurkic as well, are doing a really good job
of you know, getting the ball into the paint, catching
those scene passes and then firing out to the perimeter
for you know, three point attempts or it's kind of
swinging around the perimeter, and they're just generating better shots
and better looks, or at least they're taking better shots.
(06:11):
And I think that was something Charles Lee mentioned after
this Indiana game, and they thought the shot selection was
pretty good. It's just again, you have to be able
to get those shots up and not turn the ball
over at the rate that they did against the Pacers.
So I'm curious and now that I've kind of seen,
you know, there's been a little bit of a spike
in some of these fifty one fifty two percent shooting games,
to go back and look at the some of those
(06:33):
games and see if there's any consistency with them. And overall,
the thing I think really stands out the most is
I think the Hornet's doing a better job of getting
the ball into the paint, and when they do that,
it kind of opens everything else up for the other
four guys or three guys in some cases on the floor.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Again, Hornet's fall one nineteen to one HO five last
night in Indiana as the Pacers look to solidify the
fourth seed in the Eastern Conference against Charlotte. Now on
the season falls to nineteen and fifty seven, but a
couple of outstanding performances by some of the Hornets players,
including Miles Bridges' team high eighteen points, Mark Williams with
another double double, Seth Curry sixteen points in the starting role,
(07:10):
use of Nrkins thirteen points off the bench, as well,
just a couple of candidates here for our silverlying selections,
which we will provide for you next here on a
Hornets iive cast. It's a silver linings edition of the AJHC.
Rob Longo and the lead writer of Hornets dot Com
Sam Parley, with you here as we select our silver
linings from last night's game. Before we went to break there,
(07:31):
gave you a rundown of some of the notable performances
there for some Hornets players in the lost yesterday again
one nineteen to one oh five, the final tally out
in Indiana. Sam Purley, you are the guest of honor.
I will always let you go first. Who is your
silverlying selection from the game last night?
Speaker 3 (07:46):
My silver lining is Seth Curry. Really impressive. He had
some really tough shots to start this game, especially in
that left corner three when he just never ceased to
amaze me with how little room some of these guys
have that Not only and they get the shot off
without having it swatted ten rows into the stands, but
they can also make it like it's nothing. So he
(08:06):
finished this one sixteen points on six to seven shooting,
hit both of his three point attempts perfect from the
line as well. Said four assists or excuse me, four
rebounds to assist a steal in twenty nine minutes, which
I think was actually almost thirty minutes his most minutes
played since February ninth. Obviously had to pick up a
little bit more with some of the injuries, Nick Smith
(08:26):
being out, Josh Green, and later Damian Bob. We'll talk
about a little later on, but I think Seth was
one of eight from three in his past two games,
goes two of two in this one, getting back on
track to make one last push for that three point
percentage title. I tried to do the math after the
game and see kind of where he's at. I think
he's at forty four point nine percent right now, which
(08:47):
is a tenth of a point back of the league
leader Torrean Prints. Seth does need one more make in
order to qualify, but I think once you get to
the game Friday, he'll need two. Basically, you have to
have one three pointer per game, and I think Seth
is right now. He's at seventy five threes made on
the season in seventy six games played, so he's like
(09:10):
whatever a point nine to nine threes or whatever it
is per game. So I'm excited it's and it's really
cool as the Sacramento's got two guys that are also
chasing this as well, and Kean Allison zach Lavine who
entered last night. I think third and fourth in the
NBA and three point percentage with Luke Canard or maybe
Luke Canard's third and then Kean Allison zach Lavine are
(09:31):
third and fourth, so or fourth and fifth, excuse me,
so shaping out to be a tight race and definitely something.
As somebody who loves numbers and statistics, I'm particularly fascinated with.
Speaker 4 (09:40):
The rebound ripped away by kJ Simpson doesn't have numbers.
I don't think he minds. Right now, he'll peat Seth
Curry open look for a three, Yes, sir, Seth Curry
drilling another lows three point shot his first of the game.
He needs eight more, I mean now in the end
of the season to qualify for a three point percentage title.
Speaker 5 (09:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
The easiest way that I'm kind of describing this is basically,
just get the eighty two May threes by the end
of the season so you can qualify. That's kind of
the easiest way that I look at it. So now
that he has seventy five, needs seven more threes between
now and the end of the season to qualify for
the field goal percentage, and of course the higher efficiency,
the better his chances are would be to be that
all time three point percentage getter for the season and
(10:22):
lead the league in three point percentage. But Seth played
great yesterday, especially inside the three point line too. I
thought he had a couple of nifty little moves around
the rim. He had a really good step back there
and got crashed into had an in one opportunity. I
think that was in a third quarter, and it was
a really electric play and again Eric Collins just so passionate,
and I saw it on the TV feed. I don't
(10:42):
know if anybody else caught this in real time, but
I saw it out of the corner of my eye
on the road in Indiana. The TV crew is on
the floor and you can see in the background Eric
Collins stands up and gives this massive fist pump when
Seth made the shot. I haven't been able to go
back and listen to Eric's call on it. I'm sure
it's electric because it's Derek Collins, but it was just
really funny that he was so fired up about this
(11:02):
play in the third quarter of a season where the
Hornets are now nineteen and fifty seven, and he just
brought the energy and he brought the juice like he
did on the podcast yesterday previewing the Hornets and Pacers,
and that's why we love Eric so much. But it
was just a really cool moment and a really cool
play by Seth Curry too. He had another big play
a little bit later on in the game to my
silverlying selection, and that's going to be Mark Williams.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
Seth Curry throws the lob sat by.
Speaker 5 (11:27):
Mark Williams, how he tipped it in OH Play of
the Year candidate zero point two on the clock and
Seth Curry a perfect lob and the Duke connection works
out that.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Play by Mark Williams of Seth Curry shot clocks winding
down two tenths of a second, Seth lobs it in
from the sideline. Mark's able to go toe to toe
with Miles Turner and tip it up and over the
ten for the two points. And again it's in one
of those plays where does it change the final outcome. No,
but it was a heck of a play and as
Sam said, right, there might be Playing of the Year
candidate for this Hornets franchise. So Mark Williams another double
(12:03):
double in the contest yesterday. He's now up to twenty
on the regular season. Sixteen points, six of eight from
the floor, four for six at the free throw line.
He also had twelve rebounds. He only had one assist,
and I say only because something that you touched on
earlier here in the podcast, Sam, was the way that
Mark Williams has been able to facilitate a lot. And
that's something that I picked up as well. A couple
of weeks ago. I asked Charles Lee about it in
(12:24):
one of the pregame availabilities, just about how Mark's starting
to really facilitate and the assist numbers are looking really good.
And I asked him if it was maybe a byproduct
of use of Nurkice being on a roster, maybe he's
picking up some things from nrk Is it something else?
Is it some schemes that they're running, And he basically
said that Mark's in the team, he's making the right decisions,
He's able to find the guys cutting to the rim,
and that's basically why he's able to have those high
(12:47):
assist numbers. Now again, he didn't have a lot of
assists in that contest yesterday against Indiana, but it's something
that's a skill set for Mark that's really improved compared
to when he came out of Duke. I think that
the biggest notion for Mark Williams was He's gonna go
out there and get you a double double. He's still
doing that, obviously, he's still giving you sixteen and twelve
like he did yesterday, but that was kind of like
his only facet of his game and felt like he
(13:09):
can attack the rim. He could be a big pick
and roll partner, and he can go out there and
get your rebounds to get you points and buckets around
the rim and be a rim protector. But now he's
starting to facilitate a little bit more. He's starting to
be able to play a little bit away from the rim.
We saw him attempt a three point shot yesterday in
the second half. It was blocked, so back to the
drawing board in that sense. But it seems like Marcus
was playing with a lot of confidence right now all around.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
For sure, And to be fair to Mark, I think
that three pointer, I want to say the shot clock
was about to go off hot potato. He was the
one that had to put it up and led to
a very let's say, definitive rejection into the crowd. I
think it was Miles Turner. But yeah, looking at Mark
Splitz right now or stats from this year, two point
six assists per game right now. Last year he's at
(13:51):
one point two. He only played nineteen games, and as
a rookie was at zero point four assist per game.
So he's more than doubled where he tripled from his
rookie to a second year and then has more than
doubled from last year to this year. And I think
this is a skill set that is something that, like
you said, you know, maybe he's picked up a little
bit of tips for him from use of nurkics. You
see it more with a lot of those European guys
(14:12):
in particular are very very good passers, and you've seen
that from use of a lot already in his you know,
short Charlotte tenure thus far. And I think it's a
skill set that I'm excited to see continue to grow
for Mark Williams. And it's one of those things you
kind of look, oh, four assists, five assists, six assists,
you know, three assists, a lot of you know, fifteen
ten five kind of games. I think it's a skill
(14:33):
set that, you know, it's something he can certainly work
on and continue developing is to get into the offseason
and into next year as well. But it's certainly something
that's that's kind of one of the fun times about
this year. And as you get to experiment a little
bit more, we've seen a little bit of the those
double big lineups in very small sample sizes, and it's
not necessarily something that's going to is he going to
(14:54):
be shooting threes or midle ridge jumpers a ton next year?
Taking five, six, seven attempts a game, not as saily,
but you go out there, you take one a game,
and if you get comfortable with it and you can
figure out your spots, then you kind of move it
up a little bit more. So this is kind of
that time of year, while you know the Hornets have
been unfortunately eliminated for playoff contention, do you see some
you know, kind of interesting stuff that you know is
(15:16):
certainly worthy of making note of that you can kind
of file away for later on down the line.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Mark Williams and seth carry some of our silver lining selections.
Couple tips of the cap. Of course, Miles bridges a
couple points shy of another twenty point performance. He finishes
with eighteen four and five in the game yesterday, very
efficient as well, seven to ten from the floor, two
for three from beyond the york as well use of
Narkis thirteen points off the bench, along with five rebounds
and to assists. He ends up going five of six
(15:43):
from the field and three for six at the free
throw line. So again all talies up to a one
nineteen to one oh five loss out in Indiana, and
Hornets got some more bumps and bruises in that game yesterday,
but also got some news on the injury front as
well with LaMelo Ball. We will talk about that next
here on the Hornets. Rob Longo and Sam Perley putting
(16:06):
a button on this episode of the Hornets Podcast, as
always proudly brought to you by SENTA, wanted to give
you guys a little bit of an injury update, So
let's begin with the bad first. After the game yesterday
in Indiana again, one nineteen to one oh five loss
for the Hornets out in Indianapolis, a couple of guys
were banged up in that one. Josh Green got injured
(16:27):
in the first half did not return for the second half.
He was out the rest of the game with a
shoulder injury. Damian Ball took a hard fall there late
in the third quarter as well, right before the fourth frame.
He did not return to the contest as well. Again,
because of the recording of this podcast, we don't have
any injury updates on you, but just on those, but
just wanted to make everybody aware of that as well.
The good news, though, centers around LaMelo Ball. The Hornets
(16:48):
announced late yesterday that LaMelo Ball underwent Arthur scoptic surgery
on his right ankle and his right wrist at the
Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. Ball is
expecting to make a full recovery and return to full
bastball activity within four to six weeks. Of course, Hornet's
pr will provide additional updates on his status as they
are appropriate. So again, not a huge update on the
(17:09):
LaMelo Ball front, but he did have the surgery, he
got it out of the way, four to six weeks
for his return to basketball activities. That's the good news again.
The unfortunate news here for the Hornets is Josh Green
and Damian Bob did leave the contest yesterday. Don't know
the status of them moving forward, but again let's go
ahead and begin with those guys or wherever you kind
of want to go here, Sam, but around the Josh
Green Damien Boss situation. Look, there's six games left. You're
(17:32):
not looking to rush anybody back if they're not fully healthy.
So we don't know the status in them moving forward,
but it's just reality the situation that the season is
winding down, and that's something to keep an eye on. Also,
Nixon Junior did not play in a game yesterday. Do
it an ankle spraying? Again, if everybody's not one hundred
percent right now, there's six games left, we'll just keep
it at that, so you don't want to rush anybody
back in case it's something that could linger and maybe
(17:54):
turn into something worse unfortunately, So just something to keep
in mind of. But then at the same time, too,
lamel bow ball getting that surgery out of the way
and getting ready to go, so hopefully he has a
thought is full of an offseason, full of the summer
to develop that he possibly can.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Josh Green has been a bit of an iron man
for the Hornets this year. He leads the team in
games played with it will be now sixty eight counting
last night, Mussa Diabate a second at sixty seven, Seth
Curry at sixty four, and Miles Burdges at sixty one.
And for Nick Smith, he had played twenty five games
in a row before having to sit out last night
(18:28):
in Indiana with that ankle sprain. Last you mentioned, I
think his last game that he missed was maybe like
February eighth or ninth, something like that range in Detroit.
So yeah, at this point of the season, I mean,
everybody's on fumes, and especially when you've you've had so
many other injuries on the roster to some high you
know usage guys, you know Trey Man, Grant Williams, Brandon Miller,
(18:50):
obviously LaMelo Ball we talked about. You know, everybody is
taking has had to take on a more of a
heightened role, more responsibility, more shots, time on the minutes,
and you know it's not always something that's you're not
that you're not necessarily used to it, but it does
take a little bit of an adjustment, you know, if
you're used to playing, you know, fifteen to eighteen minutes
(19:11):
a game, and all of a sudden you've got to
spend twenty seven to thirty minutes for the next thirty games.
That does kind of have a cumulative toll, and you
know that some of that could be in play a
little bit too. But again, like you said, you know,
with guys getting banged up, and obviously Damien's boss fall
looked particularly you know, like it hurt. I mean, he
came down, you know, pretty hard and had to be
helped off the court. You know, it doesn't make any
(19:32):
sense to kind of rush guys back in, and if anything,
like we said, it gives a little bit more of
an opportunity, a little bit more responsibility, to try some
different lineups and get some guys in. But at this point,
like you said, the Hornets will air on the side
of caution. If you can play and you're healthy enough
to play, you'll play. If not, probably lean to be
more careful than not in these situations, just given where
the season is at at this point.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Again, six more games to go here on the schedule
for Charlotte, three of them the next three will be
the final home stand of the season. Will kick off
on Friday against the Sacramento Kings, and then Sunday an
afternoon affair against the Chicago Bulls, and then fan Appreciation
Night Tuesday against the Memphis Grizzlies on the first night
of a back to back, before the Hornet hit the
road to take on the Toronto Raptors north of the
(20:14):
border on the second night of a back to back
next Wednesday, and then we'll wrap up with two games
in Boston on Friday and Sunday the following week. But
to preview the matchup on Friday, Sam Pearley will be
with Sam Farber to get you set for that showdown
on tomorrow's episode of the Hornets time Cast. So Sam Purley,
thank you for joining me on this episode of the
Hornets pod Cast, and thank you for the off day
tomorrow for.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
Me, of course, I think, and that's funny because this
is the last thing I'm doing today, and I think
the first thing I'm doing tomorrow morning when I get
into the arena is sitting down with Sam Farber and
recording another podcast. So I'm I'm kind of bookending my
you know, go to sleep of the podcast and then
waking up with one as well, so as always, thank
you for having me and uh yeah, I appreciate it.
(20:54):
You're welcome for the off day as well.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
And you have my condolences for having to talk to
Sam Farber first thing in the more, but I will
leave it at that.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
We'll be first sad morning. I'll be up and at
him a little bit. You have a little coffee first,
get a little energy, you know, make sure he kind
of you know, he's you know, coming home. He's gonna
have a late night early morning too. So it's my responsibility.
I gotta bring a little bit more energy and kind
of set the tone tomorrow morning.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Wait to be that energy guy off the bench. Should
be a fun podcast episode tomorrow between you and Sam Farber.
I'm rob a longo saying so long. Thank you for
joining us on this episode of the Hornets Podcast. Big
thank you of course to Sam Parley as well. The
two Sam's will preview the Hornets and Kings on tomorrow's
episode of the HHC.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Thank you for listening to The Hornets Podcast, brought to
you by Santa the official i ear Nosen Throat Care
provider of the Charlotte Hornets. For more coverage, visit Hornets
dot com
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