<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/hornets-news-is-lamelo-ball-playing-vs-76ers-latest-update');   ga('set', 'title', 'Hornets’ LaMelo Ball returning from injury vs. 76ers');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Hornets-news-LaMelo-Ball-late-addition-to-injury-report-vs.jpg"></figure><h1>Hornets’ LaMelo Ball returning from injury vs. 76ers</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-16T11:18:23-08:00">December 16th, 11:18am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-16T15:13:29-08:00">December 16th, 3:13pm</time><address><a>Erik Slater</a>Erik Slater is the credentialed Brooklyn Nets beat reporter for ClutchPoints. He's a graduate of Lehigh University and the Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University, as well as a Lehigh Football and Syracuse Football alum.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Charlotte Hornets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-vs-hornets-predictions-odds-pick-12-16-2024">Charlotte Hornets will host the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night</a> at Spectrum Center. LaMelo Ball <a href="https://ak-static.cms.nba.com/referee/injury/Injury-Report_2024-12-16_01PM.pdf" rel="noopener">is on the team’s injury report</a> and is listed as questionable due to a left calf strain.</p><p>Here’s everything we know about Ball’s injury and playing status against the 76ers.</p><p><i><b>*Watch NBA games LIVE with fuboTV <a href="https://www.fubo.tv/lp/nba/?irad=356361&amp;irmp=492408" rel="noopener sponsored">(Get Access | Save $30)</a>*</b></i></p><h2>LaMelo Ball injury status vs. 76ers</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Hornets-LaMelo-Ball-vs-the-Milwaukee-Bucks.jpg"><figcaption>© Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-brutal-injury-update-amid-career-season">Ball has missed the Hornets’ last seven games</a> due to a calf injury he suffered during a Nov. 27 loss to the Miami Heat. While he still had hurdles to clear before taking the floor as of late, the Hornets announced that he has been <a href="https://twitter.com/TheSteinLine/status/1868793961051222117" rel="noopener">upgraded and is available to play</a> against the 76ers, according to Marc Stein.</p><p>Previously, Ball <a href="https://www.heraldonline.com/sports/nba/charlotte-hornets/article296708309.html?taid=6760765e28e48e000138b9b1&amp;utm_campaign=trueanthem&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter" rel="noopener">said he plans to run through drills at shootaround</a> and warm up before the game, according to the Rock Hill Herald’s Roderick Boone.</p><p>“I feel all right. I’ll probably just do shootaround and see how that goes — the warmup before the game,” he said.</p><p>The former All-Star guard returning to the lineup is a welcomed sight for the Hornets, who have lost nine of their last 10 games. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-earns-spot-wilt-chamberlain-44-point-outburst">Ball has put together the best statistical year</a> of his career this season. He ranks third in the NBA in scoring, averaging 31.1 points on 43.0 percent shooting from the field with 5.4 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game.</p><p>Ball leads the NBA in three-point volume, shooting 35.6 percent on 13.1 attempts per game this season.</p><p>The Hornets have struggled to get going offensively in his absence. They rank 27th on that end of the floor over their last seven games, averaging 102.4 points on 42.1 percent shooting from the field and 33.3 percent from three.</p><p>Charlotte will be without Nick Smith Jr., Grant Williams, Tre Mann, and KJ Simpson on Monday. Meanwhile, Philadelphia will also be shorthanded, with Joel Embiid, Jared McCain, and Caleb Martin sidelined.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Hornets’ LaMelo Ball returning from injury vs. 76ers

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/hornets-news-charles-lee-positive-update-lamelo-ball-miles-bridges');   ga('set', 'title', 'Charles Lee provides positive update on LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges’ status vs. Bulls');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Charles-Lee-provides-a-positive-update-on-LaMelo-Ball-Miles-Bridges-status-vs.-Bulls.jpg"></figure><h1>Charles Lee provides positive update on LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges’ status vs. Bulls</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-12T09:19:00-08:00">December 12th, 9:19am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-12T09:19:00-08:00">December 12th, 9:19am</time><address><a>Jerry Donatien</a>Jerry Donatien has worked for ClutchPoints since 2018. He is currently the company's Charlotte Hornets reporter, and he also does voiceovers on different sports stories. He worked the NBA All-Star weekend in 2019 and 2023, the NCAA woman's tournament, and he interned with Beasley Media group.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Charlotte Hornets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-charles-lee-issues-strong-opinion-charlotte-lamelo-ball-absence">Charlotte Hornets haven’t had the services of LaMelo Ball</a> or Miles Bridges for the last few games due to injuries, but head coach Charles Lee provided great news at Charlotte’s recent practice.</p><p>“I would say both guys have reached the point of their return-to-play plan where they have introduced more group work or team setting work,” Lee said. “We’ll see how they show up tomorrow, evaluate them, and see how their bodies responded to that and kind of go from there.”</p><p>Both <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-kevin-garnett-paul-pierce-stamp-approval">Ball and Bridges are integral pieces of the Hornets’ success</a>, so this sounds like great news moving forward. Ball has missed his last few games with a calf strain while Bridges is nursing his knee issues.</p><h2><b>What the Hornets have been missing in LaMelo Ball’s absence</b></h2><p>Before sitting out the last few, LaMelo Ball played in the team’s first 18 games to start the season. Averaging a career-high 31 points per game, which is third in the NBA. He’s one of four guys to average at least 30 points per game, along with the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He’s played at an All-Star level so far, and he’s been a part of six of the seven Hornets’ wins.</p><p>Bridges has gotten off to a slow start scoring wise, since he’s averaging 16 points this season from his 21 points last season, but he’s doing the little things. Still guarding the opposing team’s better perimeter players, crashing the glass, and hitting catch and shoot threes. He still plays a vital role into where Charlotte wants to go, which is the playoffs.</p><h2><b>Brandon Miller has been shining</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Brandon-Miller.jpg"><figcaption>Robert Goddin-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Without his co-star in LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller has took it upon himself to be the lifeline of this offense. He’s had 11 straight games of at least 20 points or more. He’s averaging 27.5 points in that span and has even been nominated for a Eastern Conference Player of the Week twice so far this season.</p><p>He’s getting to his shooting pockets at will and has been keeping Charlotte in games even if it has resulted in a loss. Lee spoke about his workload without key players in the rotation.</p><p>“I think he’s had to shoulder a bigger responsibility with the injuries going on right now,” Lee said. “You can see teams are throwing multiple high quality defenders at him. Bringing an extra level of physicality, showing different coverages, he’s handled it well. Outside of his play his overall leadership and demeanor is just improving game by game.”</p><h2><b>So when will the Hornets be whole again?</b></h2><p>Realistically, barring no setbacks, they’re still a few weeks away. Ball and Bridges sound like they could be game time decisions this Friday against the Chicago Bulls or possibly suit up Monday at home against the Philadelphia 76ers. On the bright side, Mark Williams and Nick Richards have returned after a long hiatus, which is huge for what started as a hobbled front court to kickoff the season.</p><p>Charlotte hasn’t had their full deck of cards yet this season, but unfortunately a lot of teams in the NBA haven’t either. It’s a part of the business of sports. As Charlotte gets closer though, they might be able to make the <a href="https://www.nba.com/standings" rel="noopener">bottom of the Eastern Conference</a> interesting.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Charles Lee provides positive update on LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges’ status vs. Bulls

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/hornets-news-charles-lee-issues-strong-opinion-charlotte-lamelo-ball-absence');   ga('set', 'title', 'Charles Lee issues strong opinion on Hornets amid LaMelo Ball’s absence');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Charles-Lee-issues-strong-opinion-on-Charlotte-amid-LaMelo-Balls-absence.jpg"></figure><h1>Charles Lee issues strong opinion on Hornets amid LaMelo Ball’s absence</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-01T08:22:15-08:00">December 1st, 8:22am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-01T08:22:46-08:00">December 1st, 8:22am</time><address><a>Jerry Donatien</a>Jerry Donatien has worked for ClutchPoints since 2018. He is currently the company's Charlotte Hornets reporter, and he also does voiceovers on different sports stories. He worked the NBA All-Star weekend in 2019 and 2023, the NCAA woman's tournament, and he interned with Beasley Media group.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Charlotte Hornets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Charlotte Hornets lost another close one to the Atlanta Hawks, 107-104, on Saturday night. With <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-brutal-injury-update-amid-career-season">LaMelo Ball’s calf strain</a> sidelining him for the foreseeable future, the Hornets lost their fifth straight game and fourth straight at home. Ball’s name was added to a running list of other key injured players like Miles Bridges, Mark Williams, Tre Mann, and others. Wins are hard enough to come by, and injuries clearly make the job harder than it already is.</p><p>Despite the injuries, the Hornets lost their last three games by a combined eight points. They’ve been at the end of the finish line with each team, but just haven’t been able to seal the deal. Charles Lee knows it too.</p><p>“I think that we are doing a lot of really good things to put ourselves in a position to win a game,” Lee said. “It’s coming down to one or two possessions. Throughout the game, there were things that we can control and that we can do a little bit better at in terms of our coverage execution. Even on that last play where (De’Andre) Hunter gets that seam pass, it’s just like how can our reads be a little bit tighter to make sure that we don’t have two guys on the ball and allow them that seam pass right there? … The guys continued to try to execute. Brandon (Miller) hits a big shot to put us back in pretty good position, and the rest is history.”</p><h2><b>Charles Lee gets real about injuries to LaMelo Ball, others</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Hornets-coach-Charles-Lee-1.jpg"><figcaption>Mandatory Credit: Scott Kinser-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>With more than five guys listed on the injury report, including the star player in LaMelo Ball, it could be hard to keep a positive attitude amidst all the losses. Coach Lee has done a good job of staying in the moment and focusing on the pieces he has in front of him.</p><p>“I think that we have a really good team. These guys believe in one another and they believe in the game plan that’s going on, so I think that no matter who plays and as we continue to get guys back, we welcome them. We’re going to be the same competitive squad that’s going to go out and defend at a high level. I think the guys are finding a little bit of a rhythm with the offense and the flow and are trusting the pass a lot more when they get to that paint. I just see a lot of really good things.”</p><p>Injuries stink, but Lee has no choice but continue to utilize the pieces available to the best of his ability.</p><h2><b>At least the Hornets got Nick Richards back</b></h2><p>After missing around a month, Nick Richards did make his return to the court. In 25 minutes of action, Richards registered 12 points and six rebounds before fouling out late in the fourth quarter. Lee was happy to have Richards back in the rotation to make an impact on this game.</p><p>“It was great to see him out there,” Lee said. “I thought defensively, he helped us protect the paint. He had a couple of really nice blocked shots. It’s nice when you can get up on the ball handler, or sometimes he covered some of the mistakes that we had in the pick-and-roll coverage and he’s there to block the shots. I thought with defensive rebounding, it’s nice sometimes to have that big on big and not have to have our smalls down there battling.</p><p>“I thought offensively, his screen assists and doing a really good job of getting our guys open. When he gets to the paint, it’s a little bit of a different feel down there when you can have a seven-footer finishing around the basket. I thought it was a lot of really good things for Nick.”</p><p>It will be a tough stretch not having multiple players in the rotation, but it is a next-man-up mentality in sports. Plus, in order to break this ugly losing streak the Hornets are suffering through, short-term memory will help them get over this loss and on to the next one.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Charles Lee issues strong opinion on Hornets amid LaMelo Ball’s absence

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-brutal-injury-update-amid-career-season');   ga('set', 'title', 'Hornets star LaMelo Ball dealt brutal injury update amid career season');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Hornets-star-LaMelo-Ball-dealt-brutal-injury-update-amid-career-season.jpg"></figure><h1>Hornets star LaMelo Ball dealt brutal injury update amid career season</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-11-30T10:03:13-08:00">November 30th, 10:03am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-11-30T10:18:31-08:00">November 30th, 10:18am</time><address><a>Quinn Allen</a>Quinn Allen is a Senior Associate Editor with ClutchPoints. He specializes mainly in soccer, basketball, and baseball. When Quinn isn't producing content for CP,  he's writing sports betting predictions for numerous sites across North America.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Charlotte Hornets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Charlotte Hornets will be without their franchise star for the foreseeable future.</p><p>LaMelo Ball is <a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1862917942981149120" rel="noopener">dealing with a calf strain</a> and will be re-evaluated in 2-3 weeks for the injury. This is a tough blow for Ball, who has been showing out in 2024-25.</p><p>The youngster is averaging a career-high 31.1 points to go along with 6.9 assists and 5.4 rebounds while shooting 35.6% from three-point land. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-laundry-list-players-out-knicks">LaMelo missed Friday’s NBA Cup clash with the New York Knicks</a> due to the calf injury. The Hornets have lost four in a row and sit at 6-13 overall.</p><p>While Charlotte is clearly struggling, Ball has been a massive bright spot. He has a whopping 39.9% usage rate, which is a mile higher than anyone on the Hornets roster. For reference, Brandon Miller sits at 27%. The second-year forward is going to have the ball in his hands a lot more with LaMelo sidelined.</p><p>Before suffering the injury, Ball was on quite the tear, averaging 40.2 points across the last four games. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-makes-history-50-point-eruption-bucks">That included a 50-point outburst</a> against the Milwaukee Bucks on November 23. The 23-year-old’s creativity and versatile skillset have been on full display.</p><p>Calf strains can be a tricky injury. Again, he will be re-evaluated in a few weeks. We could see Ball out for a month depending on his progression.<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-grant-williams-helped-locker-room-potentially-serious-injury"> The Hornets also just lost Grant Williams to an ACL tear</a>, one of their key defenders.</p><p>Charlotte’s loss to the Knicks on Friday officially eliminated them from the In-Season Tournament. They’ve also dropped four straight and have gone just 2-8 in their last 10 contests. The Hornets could barely win with Ball on the court — it will be even more of a struggle now.</p><p>LaMelo was limited to just 22 games in the 2023-24 season because of health issues, averaging 23.9 points, 8.0 dimes, and 5.1 boards. Hopefully, he can get back on the court sooner rather than later and help his squad stay out of the Eastern Conference gutter.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Hornets star LaMelo Ball dealt brutal injury update amid career season

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/hornets-news-lavar-ball-trade-help-lamelo-ball-charlotte-ig-live-video');   ga('set', 'title', 'LaVar Ball hints at trade to help LaMelo Ball, Hornets in IG Live video');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/LaVar-Ball-hints-at-trade-to-help-LaMelo-Ball-Charlotte-in-IG-Live-video.jpg"></figure><h1>LaVar Ball hints at trade to help LaMelo Ball, Hornets in IG Live video</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-11-29T18:17:07-08:00">November 29th, 6:17pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-11-29T18:17:07-08:00">November 29th, 6:17pm</time><address><a>Matt De Lima</a>Matt De Lima is an Associate Editor for NFL and college football at ClutchPoints. He has been covering sports for over 12 years at sites like Sports Illustrated, The Game Day, and countless others. Born and raised in California, he is a graduate of Virginia Tech and a diehard Hokies fan who now resides in southern Maryland.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Charlotte Hornets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>With a 6-13 record, the Charlotte Hornets look to have <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-laundry-list-players-out-knicks">another long season</a> ahead of them. During their 99-98 loss to the New York Knicks on Friday, LaVar Ball, father of LaMelo Ball, implied that help is <a href="https://x.com/igotnftsmedia/status/1862577872818307343" rel="noopener">on the way</a> to the Hornets, likely from a trade, via Big Baller Brand’s IG Live video.</p><p>“Don’t worry about it, help is coming. Help is coming!”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Lavar Ball to the Charlotte Hornets after Cody Martin’s missed shot : “Don’t worry about help is coming, help is coming.” <a href="https://t.co/ld0xwx1UCE">pic.twitter.com/ld0xwx1UCE</a></p><p>— NFTs (@igotnftsmedia) <a href="https://twitter.com/igotnftsmedia/status/1862577872818307343?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 29, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><p>Based on the latest headlines, it may not be a trade. Instead, LiAngelo Ball, who opted to forgo attending UCLA after a suspension for shoplifting in China, is <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-news-liangelo-ball-lonzo-lamelo-bulls-hornets">trying to get back</a> into the NBA G League. From 2021 to 2023, he played for the Greensboro Swarm, the Hornets’ G League affiliate. In 2024, he briefly joined Astros de Jalisco of Mexico’s CIBACOPA before returning to the United States to rehabilitate an injury.</p><h2><b>Hornets are in no position to be trading future assets</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Hornets-LaMelo-Ball-driving-with-the-ball.jpg"><figcaption>© Michael McLoone-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>With no first-round picks in the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bold-cooper-flagg-led-2025-draft-class-take-nba">2025 NBA Draft</a>, Charlotte is in a difficult position over the next two seasons. Ball and Brandon Miller can get hot from three-point range but the team is certainly lacking an identity. It also doesn’t help that a smattering of injuries has kept out Miles Bridges, DaQuan Jeffries, Tre Mann, Nick Richards and Mark Williams. Grant Williams is also out for the season with an ACL injury.</p><p>Despite the team’s uneven start, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce have <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-kevin-garnett-paul-pierce-stamp-approval">noticed Ball’s hot start</a> to the season.</p><p>“LaMelo got a different bag, dog,” Garnett said. “He’s playing with a different confidence, and I hope the league blesses him with an All-Star appearance. He is must-watch TV I think he’s great when you put him around a bunch of other young guys. He’s fun to watch, in this direction that we’re going in, he’s part of that wave.”</p><p>Fun to watch is one thing. Consistently competitive, the Hornets are not.</p><p>In Brett Siegel’s latest <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-power-rankings-24-25-week-5-spurs-news-heights-76ers-rock-bottom">NBA Power Rankings</a>, he has Charlotte at No. 25.</p><p>“When home, the Charlotte Hornets have posted a 5-3 record, but they are just 1-7 on the road, tied for the worst road record in the league. There isn’t much to point to and think highly of when discussing the Hornets right now, as LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller have been their only factors offensively.</p><p>“As a team, Charlotte is the third-worst shooting team in the NBA, and they are the worst when it comes to getting to the free-throw line. Basically, all the Hornets do is throw up three-point shots and hope for the best, hence why they rank second in both threes made and taken.”</p><p>The Hornets host the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday, November 30, at 6:00 p.m. EST.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

LaVar Ball hints at trade to help LaMelo Ball, Hornets in IG Live video

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-approaching-kobe-bryant-allen-iverson-territory');   ga('set', 'title', 'LaMelo Ball approaching Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson territory');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/IMG_1042.jpeg"></figure><h1>LaMelo Ball approaching Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson territory</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-11-28T17:46:16-08:00">November 28th, 5:46pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-11-28T17:46:16-08:00">November 28th, 5:46pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Charlotte Hornets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Charlotte Hornets’ star LaMelo Ball has been on fire to start the 2024-25 NBA season. The only problem is the Hornets haven’t had a good start to the year at 6-12. Now it appears that the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-laundry-list-players-out-knicks">Hornets have to navigate an injury to Ball</a> who has been healthy this year. But in any case, LaMelo Ball <a href="https://x.com/Ballislife/status/1862134351619568019" rel="noopener">is rapidly approaching</a> Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson status in terms of field goal attempts, as per Ballislife.</p><p>Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson were known for taking a lot of shots, and LaMelo Ball’s 2024-25 season is slowly creeping up on par with some of their top shot-taking seasons.</p><p>This year, Ball is taking 24.9 shot attempts per game. Since 2000, Iverson holds the mark for most shot attempts in a single season at 278 which he accomplished during the 2001-02 season. Bryant holds the second-most shot attempts in that period at 27.2 during the 2005-06 season.</p><p>Iverson then holds the mark for the next two most shot attempt seasons at 25.5 (2000-01) and 25.3 (2005-06), respectively.</p><p>During those respective seasons, both Iverson and Bryant were the main source of offense for their teams where it justified them taking a lot of shots. The same could be said for Ball this season with the Hornets.</p><h2><b>LaMelo Ball’s 2024-25 season with Hornets</b></h2><p>This year, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-earns-spot-wilt-chamberlain-44-point-outburst">Ball has been setting records</a> while playing at an All-Star caliber level. His play is on par with his numbers during the 2021-22 season when he was named to the All-Star team.</p><p>He had suited up in 18 games so far at a little over 34 minutes per game. He had been averaging 31.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.1 steals with splits of 43 percent shooting from the field, 35.6 percent shooting from the three-point line and 84.8 percent shooting from the free-throw line.</p><p>Ball suffered a calf injury late during the Hornets’ loss to the Miami Heat on Wednesday. There isn’t any concrete update as to his prognosis aside from the fact that he won’t play against the New York Knicks on Friday.</p><p>The No. 3 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, Ball has been hampered by injuries during his young career. He was limited to only 36 games during the 2022-23 season and 22 games during the 2023-24 season. He played in only 51 games in 2020-21 when he won the Rookie of the Year Award.</p><p>Ball’s career-high for games played is 75 in 2021-22 when he was an All-Star. Hornets fans are certainly hoping that this latest issue isn’t a setback of any kind. Ball has paired with Brandon Miller, last season’s No. 2 overall pick, to make up a formidable and intriguing young duo.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

LaMelo Ball approaching Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson territory

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-laundry-list-players-out-knicks');   ga('set', 'title', 'LaMelo Ball among laundry list of players out vs. Knicks');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/IMG_1040.jpeg"></figure><h1>LaMelo Ball among laundry list of players out vs. Knicks</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-11-28T14:51:05-08:00">November 28th, 2:51pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-11-28T14:58:58-08:00">November 28th, 2:58pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Charlotte Hornets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Despite the Charlotte Hornets poor start to the 2024-25 season, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-rapid-rise-3-point-milestone">LaMelo Ball has been playing like a superstar</a>. The former No. 3 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft is healthy and playing like an All-Star. But there might be a little cause for concern. LaMelo Ball was placed on the Hornets’ injury report ahead of their game against the New York Knicks.</p><p>LaMelo Ball is just one of several Hornets players that will <a href="https://x.com/HornetsPR/status/1862255291451969617" rel="noopener">miss the team’s game</a> against the Knicks on Friday due to injury, as per team PR. Ball, who has been healthy this season, suffered a calf injury towards the end of the team’s loss to the Miami Heat on Wednesday.</p><p>In addition to Ball, the Hornets will also be without Miles Bridges (right knee), DaQuan Jeffries (right hand), Tre Mann (lower back), Nick Richards (right rib), Grant Williams (right ACL) and Mark Williams (left foot) against the Knicks. In <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-grant-williams-helped-locker-room-potentially-serious-injury">Grant Williams’ case, he is out for the rest of the season</a>.</p><p>The Hornets have started out the year at 6-12 and are ahead of only the Toronto Raptors and the Philadelphia 76ers as the bottom worst records in the Eastern Conference standings.</p><p>But Ball had been on a tear since the beginning of the season. He just recently completed a four-game stretch during which he scored 35, 50, 44 and 32 points, respectively.</p><p>Through the first 18 games, Ball had been averaging 31.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.1 steals with splits of 43 percent shooting from the field, 35.6 percent shooting from the three-point line and 84.8 percent shooting from the free-throw line. His points per game are a career-high.</p><p>The 2021 NBA Rookie of the Year, Ball has certainly proven himself as a franchise level player. Along with last season’s No. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller, they’ve formed an intriguing duo in Charlotte. But the team is still nowhere near being a consistent playoff contender.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

LaMelo Ball among laundry list of players out vs. Knicks

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-kevin-garnett-paul-pierce-stamp-approval');   ga('set', 'title', 'Hornets’ LaMelo Ball gets Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce stamp of approval');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Hornets-LaMelo-Ball-gets-Kevin-Garnett-Paul-Pierce-stamp-of-approval.jpg"></figure><h1>Hornets’ LaMelo Ball gets Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce stamp of approval</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-11-28T09:09:56-08:00">November 28th, 9:09am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-11-28T09:10:28-08:00">November 28th, 9:10am</time><address><a>Quinn Allen</a>Quinn Allen is a Senior Associate Editor with ClutchPoints. He specializes mainly in soccer, basketball, and baseball. When Quinn isn't producing content for CP,  he's writing sports betting predictions for numerous sites across North America.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Charlotte Hornets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Charlotte Hornets may be one of the worst teams in the league with a 6-12 record, but <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-earns-spot-wilt-chamberlain-44-point-outburst">franchise star LaMelo Ball has been balling out</a>. The guard is proving that he is developing into one of the top players in the Association.</p><p>Amid his hot start to the campaign, LaMelo <a href="https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1862151434927788318?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1862151434927788318%7Ctwgr%5E9c9f60ff6bf55eeadfb4cbca8202950ba54c0a97%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwp.clutchpoints.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D3144050action%3Dedit" rel="noopener">earned the approval</a> of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, who have been extremely impressed with how he’s been performing.</p><p>“LaMelo hey, you see LaMelo bag?”, Garnett said. “Man…” Pierce replied.</p><p>“He was coming left, he wanted to get to the three, he threw it right-handed and got back to the — you know how throw it — and then take all the steps without touching it — and get back to it? He did it off the one leg going backwards P.</p><p>“LaMelo got a different bag, dog,” Garnett continued. “He’s playing with a different confidence and I hope the league blesses him with an All-Star appearance, he is must-watch TV I think he’s great when you put him around a bunch of other young guys, he’s fun to watch, in this direction that we’re going in, he’s part of that wave.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">“LaMelo got a different bag…he is must-watch TV.”</p><p>Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce is vouching for a LaMelo Ball All-Star appearance 🗣️</p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/allthesmokeprod?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@allthesmokeprod</a>)<a href="https://t.co/NKU7curSUP">pic.twitter.com/NKU7curSUP</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1862151434927788318?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 28, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The Hornets stud is on a tear right now. He’s averaging 31.1 points, 6.9 assists, and 5.4 rebounds per game. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-makes-history-50-point-eruption-bucks">LaMelo just erupted for 50</a> last weekend against the Milwaukee Bucks. Since then, he’s recorded 44-point and 32-point games. Garnett and Pierce are right. Ball has a very deep bag and he’s extremely creative with the rock in his hands.</p><p>Whether LaMelo is using his handles to create a scoring lane or an open look or creating space to dish a dime, it’s truly entertaining to watch the 23-year-old play. He has everything you could want in a guard and it appears Year 5 could be his best yet. Perhaps it’s not enough to get the Hornets into the playoffs, but he’s surely making a name for himself across the league.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Hornets’ LaMelo Ball gets Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce stamp of approval

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-late-addition-injury-report-vs-heat');   ga('set', 'title', 'LaMelo Ball late addition to Hornets’ injury report vs. Heat');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Hornets-news-LaMelo-Ball-late-addition-to-injury-report-vs.jpg"></figure><h1>LaMelo Ball late addition to Hornets’ injury report vs. Heat</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-11-27T10:52:04-08:00">November 27th, 10:52am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-11-27T10:52:04-08:00">November 27th, 10:52am</time><address><a>Jackson Stone</a>Jackson Stone is a Mercer University senior from Atlanta on track to graduate with a BA in communications. A lifelong sports lover, Jackson is a die-hard fan of all Atlanta teams. He joined ClutchPoints in 2023.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Charlotte Hornets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The NBA world has been <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-charles-lee-breaks-down-lamelo-ball-stretch">lit on fire by LaMelo Ball</a> as of late, as the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-earns-spot-wilt-chamberlain-44-point-outburst">Hornets guard has registered</a> totals of 50, 44, and 35 in his last three games. The Hornets as a whole are struggling, currently sitting at 6-11 at this early juncture of the season, but Ball is second in the NBA in scoring at an even 31 points per game.</p><p>On Wednesday evening, the Hornets are scheduled to take part in their final game of the pre-Thanksgiving portion of the schedule at home against the Miami Heat, and <a href="https://x.com/HornetsPR/status/1861532321360326925" rel="noopener">earlier in the day</a>, the team delivered a concerning injury update regarding Ball’s status.</p><p>“LaMelo Ball (R Wrist Soreness) has been added to the Injury Report as probable for tonight’s game,” reported Charlotte Hornets PR on X, formerly Twitter.</p><p>Joining Ball on the injury report are Miles Bridges (knee), Grant Williams (ACL), Nick Richards (rib), Mark Williams (foot), DaQuan Jeffries (hand), and Tre Mann (back), each of whom are slated to miss the contest with the Heat.</p><p>LaMelo Ball appears to have turned into the best version of himself that fans were hoping for when he was selected in the lottery of the 2020 NBA Draft. Ball’s playmaking chops have been apparent dating back to his days at Chino Hills High School, but his three point shooting has expanded a ton since he entered the league, all of which has made him a nightmare for opposing defenses to try to contain.</p><p>If Ball is unable to go, the Hornets will need to get a huge game out of second year forward Brandon Miller to have any chance of competing with a dangerous Heat squad that is looking to bounce back from a crushing loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday.</p><p>In any case, the Heat and Hornets are slated to tip things off at 7:00 PM ET from Charlotte.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

LaMelo Ball late addition to Hornets’ injury report vs. Heat

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/hornets-news-charles-lee-breaks-down-lamelo-ball-stretch');   ga('set', 'title', 'Charles Lee breaks down LaMelo Ball’s epic 2-game stretch');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Hornets-news-Charles-Lee-breaks-down-whats-LaMelo-Balls-epic-two-game-stretch.jpg"></figure><h1>Charles Lee breaks down LaMelo Ball’s epic 2-game stretch</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-11-26T08:18:04-08:00">November 26th, 8:18am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-11-26T08:18:04-08:00">November 26th, 8:18am</time><address><a>Jerry Donatien</a>Jerry Donatien has worked for ClutchPoints since 2018. He is currently the company's Charlotte Hornets reporter, and he also does voiceovers on different sports stories. He worked the NBA All-Star weekend in 2019 and 2023, the NCAA woman's tournament, and he interned with Beasley Media group.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Charlotte Hornets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Charlotte Hornets fell to the Orlando Magic 95-84, but <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-makes-history-50-point-eruption-bucks">LaMelo Ball stayed on a tear</a>. After dropping 50 points on the road against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks, Ball poured in 44 more points on the Magic and their third-ranked defense. He shot 17-30 from the field and 4-11 from three-point range. With those four triples, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-rapid-rise-3-point-milestone">Ball became the second-fastest player to 600 career threes</a>.</p><h2><b>Charles Lee breaks down how LaMelo Ball is feasting on offense</b></h2><p>Ball has been a bright spot on offense for the Hornets. Putting up 94 points in two games is an impressive feat, and head coach Charles Lee made sure to give Ball his props.</p><p>“I just think that he’s continuing to find his spots,” Lee said. “I think the team is doing a great job screening for him and getting him open. I thought he continues to trust the pass. Sometimes when they put two on the ball, he’s hitting the seam pass and allowing that seam guy to make the appropriate reads, and sometimes he makes something out of nothing.</p><p>“I just think that he was great tonight offensively, but again I want to highlight some of his defensive efforts tonight, too. I thought he had active hands. The defensive rebounds he had where our bigs are locked up and wrestling with the other big and he flies in for a couple rebounds, so I thought he helped us in a lot of different areas tonight.”</p><p>Ball is finding his stride offensively. He’s the first Hornets player in franchise history to score <a href="https://x.com/hornetspr/status/1861231782928019819?s=46&amp;t=vnLDgTn4yNZudl1UzUUjJA" rel="noopener">at least 35 points</a> in three straight games.</p><h2><b>Brandon Miller endorses LaMelo Ball’s recent play as a leader</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Charlotte-Hornets.jpg"><figcaption>Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Brandon Miller has also been a solid groove of his own as of late. He’s put up at least 20 points in the Hornets last four games, including a season-high 38 points against the Detroit Pistons. Miller gave his thoughts on Ball’s big scoring night against the Magic.</p><p>“He’s in a great rhythm. Him just being our leader that we need, of course he’s going to do everything he can to help everybody win this basketball game as a team. Just following his lead, I think we’re going to be great.”</p><p>Despite the losses, both Miller and Ball have been bright spots for this team’s offense for a bulk of the season. It hasn’t always translated to wins directly quite yet, but with this type of play, they could be on the cusp of racking up wins sooner rather than later.</p><h2><b>Hornets could have 2 All-Stars come February</b></h2><p>There’s a legit shot that both Ball and Miller have made All-Star bids. LaMelo Ball is 2nd in scoring through 17 games with 31 points per game, leads the NBA in fourth quarter scoring with 171. It’s hard to deny Ball’s case to not participate in his second All-Star game since he’s been healthy and available to play.</p><p>Miller has a case to be made, but he has a little more work to do to make it a sure thing. His game has taken a leap in points, rebounds, and assists so far in the 2024-25 season. Charlotte hasn’t had two All-Stars since 1995 when Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnson did it. We’ll see if it happens in 2025.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Charles Lee breaks down LaMelo Ball’s epic 2-game stretch

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-earns-spot-wilt-chamberlain-44-point-outburst');   ga('set', 'title', 'Hornets’ LaMelo Ball earns spot alongside Wilt Chamberlain after 44-point outburst');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Hornets-news-LaMelo-Ball-earns-spot-alongside-Wilt-Chamberlain-after-44-point-outburst.jpg"></figure><h1>Hornets’ LaMelo Ball earns spot alongside Wilt Chamberlain after 44-point outburst</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-11-25T21:01:25-08:00">November 25th, 9:01pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-11-25T21:01:25-08:00">November 25th, 9:01pm</time><address><a>Christopher Smith</a>Christopher Smith is an associate editor covering a variety of sports with a beat focus on the Chicago Sky for ClutchPoints. The Aurora, Illinois native earned a degree in philosophy from Creighton University, where he also competed as a Division 1 Cross Country runner.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Charlotte Hornets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Charlotte Hornets are on a quest to improve upon their subpar 2023 season, and while their 2024 start has not gone perfectly, it has been promising. The Hornets took a 95-94 loss to the Orlando Magic on Monday night. Yet, LaMelo Ball had another standout performance, joining a rare Wilt Chamberlain club.</p><p>Ball scored a whopping 44 points, along with nine rebounds and seven assists. He added to a string of impressive performances that proceeded Monday night’s outing. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-makes-history-50-point-eruption-bucks">Ball amassed 50 points</a>, 10 assists, and five rebounds in the Hornets’ 125-19 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Nov. 23.</p><p>Ball has 94 points, 14 rebounds, and 17 assists in Charlotte’s last two losses. The <a href="https://x.com/OptaSTATS/status/1861256364481225192" rel="noopener">only other player</a> in NBA history to have at least that many points, rebounds, and assists over a two-game span but lose both was Wilt Chamberlain from February 12-13 (97/61/18), per OptaSTATS.</p><p>LaMelo Ball has been on a tear in his fifth year with the Hornets. Through 17 games, the 2020 third overall pick averages a career-high 31.3 points to go with 6.9 assists, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.2 steals on a 35.6 three-point shooting clip.</p><p>As mentioned, Ball has had a string of strong performances. He has a unique gear that few players possess, and his teammate <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-ringing-miles-bridges-endorsement-bucks">Miles Bridges spoke highly about Ball’s fourth-quarter motor</a> after the star guard scored 26 points in the Hornets’ 116-115 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Nov. 16.</p><p>“The fourth quarter has been LaMelo’s quarter. He turns up his intensity, he turns up his energy whenever the fourth quarter comes around. It’s great for us – getting us going, getting us open shots and getting shots for himself. I think ‘Melo, he got the fourth quarter going,” Bridges said after the win, per ClutchPoints’ Jerry Donatien.</p><p>LaMelo Ball still has plenty of areas he can improve in, but Charlotte is pleased with the growth he has shown so far during the 2024 season. If he keeps working hard, the sky is the limit.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Hornets’ LaMelo Ball earns spot alongside Wilt Chamberlain after 44-point outburst

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-rapid-rise-3-point-milestone');   ga('set', 'title', 'LaMelo Ball continues rapid rise with latest 3-point milestone');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/IMG_1034.jpeg"></figure><h1>LaMelo Ball continues rapid rise with latest 3-point milestone</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-11-25T19:51:39-08:00">November 25th, 7:51pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-11-25T19:51:39-08:00">November 25th, 7:51pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Charlotte Hornets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>During the early goings of the 2024-25 season, Charlotte Hornets star <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-makes-history-50-point-eruption-bucks">LaMelo Ball has been making a case for an All-Star</a> selection. While the Hornets’ record and place in the standings may not be so great, Ball has been one of the best players in the league. During the Hornets’ loss to the Orlando Magic on Monday, LaMelo Ball became <a href="https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1861213761069019474" rel="noopener">the second fastest player</a> to reach 600 career three-point shots.</p><p>During the team’s loss to the Hornets, LaMelo Ball shot 4-of-11 from the three-point line. On the season, he’s shooting 37.2 percent from three-point range. His career high in three-point percentage is the 38.9 percent he shot during his second year in the NBA in 2021-22. Coincidently, that was his lone All-Star season to this point.</p><p>Ball is actually shooting a career-high in attempts from three-point range at 12.8 per game. His previous career-high was the 10.6 he shot during the 2022-23 season.</p><p>The 2020-21 Rookie of the Year, Ball has dealt with various injury issues throughout his early career. Last season he was limited to only 22 games. In 2022-23, he was limited to only 36 games. The only time he’s played in more than 51 games in his career was his All-Star year in 2021-22 when he appeared in 75 games.</p><p>Ball has suited up in all 16 games for the Hornets so far, a welcome sign for a franchise that is trying to achieve respectability. He’s been averaging 30.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.2 steals with splits of 43 percent shooting from the field, 35.6 percent shooting from the three-point line and 87 percent shooting from the free-throw line.</p><p>Ball is in the first year of a five-year, $206 million contract he signed last offseason.</p><p>The Hornets have started off the year at 6-11 under new head coach Charles Lee. But they seem to have a solid duo in Ball and last year’s lottery pick, Brandon Miller. Miller finished third in last season’s Rookie of the Year voting.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

LaMelo Ball continues rapid rise with latest 3-point milestone

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-makes-history-50-point-eruption-bucks');   ga('set', 'title', 'Hornets’ LaMelo Ball makes history with 50-point eruption vs. Bucks');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/LaMelo-Ball-makes-history-with-50point-eruption-vsBucks.jpg"></figure><h1>Hornets’ LaMelo Ball makes history with 50-point eruption vs. Bucks</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-11-24T07:54:35-08:00">November 24th, 7:54am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-11-24T10:33:10-08:00">November 24th, 10:33am</time><address><a>Jason Patt</a>Jason Patt started as an editor at ClutchPoints in 2018 and became the head of the editorial team in 2022. He also co-hosts Cash Considerations: A Chicago Bulls Podcast for the Blue Wire Network.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Charlotte Hornets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Charlotte Hornets suffered a 125-119 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, but it certainly wasn’t the fault of LaMelo Ball. The Hornets star poured in a career-high 50 points in the defeat, with Charlotte outscoring Milwaukee by seven points in his 40 minutes on the court. Ball also tallied 10 assists, five rebounds and six 3-pointers, making him the <a href="https://x.com/statmuse/status/1860526963099590671" rel="noopener">first player in franchise history</a> to hit all these benchmarks in a game, per StatMuse.</p><p>It did take Ball 38 shots and 17 3-point attempts to get to his final scoring number, so it wasn’t the <a href="https://x.com/JoshEberley/status/1860668426219655250" rel="noopener">most efficient 50-burger ever.</a> Still, it was an impressive performance against a Bucks team that’s starting to finally find its groove after a brutal start to the season. Ball also became the third-youngest player in NBA history to score 50.</p><p>Unfortunately for the Hornets, Ball didn’t get much help. While Brandon Miller poured in 32 points of his own, Josh Green was the only other Charlotte player to reach double figures in scoring with 11. Some of this was because Ball and Miller took 61 of the Hornets’ 100 field goal attempts, but they lost the game when the star point guard was off the court. Charlotte got outscored by 13 points in the eight minutes Ball sat as Miles Bridges’ absence was felt. Grant Williams also left the game with what looked like a bad injury.</p><p>The Hornets dropped to 6-10 overall and 1-7 on the road with this loss. That has them in 11th place in a messy Eastern Conference where the seventh-seeded Atlanta Hawks are 7-10. There’s going to be a lot of jockeying for position among mediocre and flat-out bad teams in the East.</p><p>Charlotte is hoping to at least be in contention for a play-in berth this season, and Ball’s health will be paramount. The Hornets star only played in 58 games total over the last two seasons, but so far he has played in all 16 games this year. He’s on track for an All-Star nod with averages of 30.2 points, 6.9 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game. The point guard is third in the NBA in scoring and has <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-brandon-miller-reach-elite-all-time-top-5-territory-in-thrilling-win-vs-pistons">teamed with Miller</a> for some massive performances of late.</p><p>Clearly, LaMelo Ball has shaken off his <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/why-charles-lee-benching-hornets-lamelo-ball-makes-sense">recent fourth-quarter benching</a>.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Hornets’ LaMelo Ball makes history with 50-point eruption vs. Bucks

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/hornets-news-brandon-miller-lamelo-ball-react-massive-performances-pistons');   ga('set', 'title', 'Hornets’ Brandon Miller, LaMelo Ball react to their massive performances vs. Pistons');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Hornets-news-Brandon-Miller-LaMelo-Ball-react-to-their-massive-performances-vs.-Pistons.jpg"></figure><h1>Hornets’ Brandon Miller, LaMelo Ball react to their massive performances vs. Pistons</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-11-22T13:05:42-08:00">November 22nd, 1:05pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-11-22T13:05:42-08:00">November 22nd, 1:05pm</time><address><a>Jerry Donatien</a>Jerry Donatien has worked for ClutchPoints since 2018. He is currently the company's Charlotte Hornets reporter, and he also does voiceovers on different sports stories. He worked the NBA All-Star weekend in 2019 and 2023, the NCAA woman's tournament, and he interned with Beasley Media group.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Charlotte Hornets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller earned a win in overtime over the Detroit Pistons 123-121 to break <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-charles-lee-reveals-why-he-benched-lamelo-ball-crunch-time">the Charlotte Hornets’ two-game losing streak</a>. Ball poured in 35 points while Miller had 38 of his own, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-brandon-miller-reach-elite-all-time-top-5-territory-in-thrilling-win-vs-pistons">making them the fifth-youngest duo</a> in NBA history to each have 35-plus points in a game.</p><h2><b>Brandon Miller reacts to his career night</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Brandon-Miller-2.jpg"><figcaption>Sam Sharpe-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Thirty-eight is now Miller’s new career-high in points and his <a href="https://x.com/Ballislife/status/1859801829921653031" rel="noopener"> eight made threes and four steals</a> are also. Miller was so locked in he didn’t even realize he set a new bar for his scoring prowess.</p><p>“I honestly didn’t know tonight was my career high,” Miller said. “I was just playing basketball and going out there looking to win a ball game in front of a great home crowd tonight.”</p><p>He also added that his Hornets teammates encouraged him every step of the way, especially after Ball fouled out.</p><p>“I think just my teammates encouraging me to be more aggressive. LaMelo (Ball) fouled out at the end, and I think it was just an opportunity to be more aggressive. I think as a competitor and as a winning teammate, we want to do everything to go out there for 48 minutes and win the ball game.”</p><h2><b>LaMelo Ball speaks on Miller’s big game</b></h2><p>Ball couldn’t finish the game, unfortunately, but he knew that the win was sealed with how his teammate was rolling.</p><p>“Brandon definitely stepped up and I feel like that’s why we got the win. He stepped up big in overtime, so great play [from Brandon].”</p><p>As fun as it was to see Miller’s performance, Ball knows that if he plays like this, more wins will follow.</p><p>“We need those type of performances,” Ball continued. “Like I said, every win matters. So just him stepping up to the plate and doing what we needed was big.”</p><h2><b>Hornets coach reflects on the win and his two star players</b></h2><p>Getting back in the win column and keeping up with the rest of the Eastern Conference seeding-wise is important early on in the season. When you can get your two young stars to combine for 73 points to seal up a win, any coach will take that. Hornets head coach Charles Lee highlighted those guys, but also other key moments in the game.</p><p>“I’m proud of the group. I love how we stuck with it. We did a lot of really good things to build a lead at both ends of the court. I thought ‘Melo (Ball) played great offensively, and even his defensive pressure was really good… I thought Brandon (Miller) stepped up and made a lot of great offensive plays. Cody Martin’s block on (Jaden) Ivey towards the end of the game, Moussa (Diabate) getting his first start and rebounding like a monster. It was a great team win. Even Taj Gibson coming up with the ball at the end of the game – every possession mattered, every hustle play, every competitive effort was really good by the team, so I’m proud of them for sticking with it.”</p><p>The Hornets are sitting at the nine seed with a 6-9 record, tied with three other teams. They’re in a solid position as they draw closer to that quarter-of-the-season mark.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Hornets’ Brandon Miller, LaMelo Ball react to their massive performances vs. Pistons

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/hornets-news-lamelo-ball-brandon-miller-reach-elite-all-time-top-5-territory-in-thrilling-win-vs-pistons');   ga('set', 'title', 'Hornets’ LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller reach elite all-time top 5 territory in thrilling win vs. Pistons');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/LaMelo-Ball-Brandon-Miller-reach-elite-all-time-top-5-territory-in-thrilling-win-vs.-Pistons.jpg"></figure><h1>Hornets’ LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller reach elite all-time top 5 territory in thrilling win vs. Pistons</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-11-21T20:07:18-08:00">November 21st, 8:07pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-11-21T21:03:22-08:00">November 21st, 9:03pm</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Charlotte Hornets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The hiring of Charles Lee as the team’s head coach has done wonders for the Charlotte Hornets; they’re a much more competitive team night in and night out, and they seem to be getting the best out of the team’s burgeoning stars. On Thursday night, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hornets-news-charles-lee-reveals-why-he-benched-lamelo-ball-crunch-time">LaMelo Ball managed to bounce back</a> after he was benched in their previous game, while Brandon Miller took it upon himself to will the Hornets to a 123-121 overtime win over the Detroit Pistons.</p><p>Ball scored 35 points of his own in a major redemption game, while Miller managed to one-up his backcourt mate with 38 points of his own. And in so doing, the Hornets duo is cementing themselves as one of the best young tandems, not just at the moment but throughout NBA history as well.</p><p>According to StatMamba on X (formerly known as Twitter), Ball and Miller <a href="https://x.com/StatMamba/status/1859792768991887493" rel="noopener">became the fifth youngest duo</a> in NBA history to score at least 35 points each in a single game — with the former being just 23 years of age despite being in his fifth NBA season, while the latter is just 22 years old.</p><p>The Hornets’ future is bright, and it will be up to Ball and Miller to keep the team buzzing from here on out. Both are perfect fits for the modern NBA; they play with pace, excitement, and confidence that allows them to believe that they are the best players on the court on any given night.</p><p>And with the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/why-charles-lee-benching-hornets-lamelo-ball-makes-sense">Hornets having secured the services</a> of one of the best young head coaches in the league as well, then the best is truly yet to come for them.</p><h2><b>Brandon Miller finishes the job for the Hornets in overtime</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Hornets-forward-Brandon-Miller-24-looks-to-pass.jpg"></figure><p>The Hornets were in control heading into the fourth quarter of their game against the Pistons; however, they let their foot off the gas pedal and even relinquished the lead to the Pistons — with LaMelo Ball bailing them out with a game-tying floater that ended up sending the game to overtime.</p><p>But in the extra period, Ball immediately picked up his sixth foul — putting the Hornets in a tough spot. But Brandon Miller simply said that he will not end tonight on the losing side of the proceedings. He caught fire in overtime, nailing an impressive off-balance triple off the inbounds as well as a straight-up isolation three-ball over Tobias Harris to give the Hornets a comfortable lead that will be enough for the 123-121 victory.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2024-25 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
30.0	5.3	7.5	0.2	1.3

2024-25 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
30.0	5.3	7.5	0.2	1.3

LaMelo Ball news

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