Hornets Facing Orlando Again to Close Out Brief Preseason

Head Coach James Borrego utilized just 11 players in Thursday night’s win over Orlando, with three starters playing 28 minutes and three reserves notching at least 20. It’s a bit abnormal to have this tight a rotation in a preseason game, but the accelerated offseason and fewer exhibition contests makes this move a necessity from a familiarity and conditioning standpoint. It appears the Hornets have narrowed down their Opening Night rotation, although playing groups and lineup experimentation will be ongoing well into the regular season.

The Hornets committed 48 combined turnovers over their first two preseason games against the Raptors before breaking through on the ball security front with just 11 giveaways on Thursday night. Coach Borrego recently pinpointed the magic number in this area as 15 or fewer per game. And despite troubles in the Toronto games, Charlotte sits first amongst NBA teams in assist percentage (76.1%) at the moment and ninth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.51), a category it finished 18th in last regular season.

Charlotte surrendered more offensive rebounds in its lone game against Orlando (13) thus far than it did in its two contests against the Raptors combined (11), a result that led to 22 second-chance points on 10-of-14 shooting for the Magic. Much like the turnover situation, giving away extra possessions on the offensive glass is an easy way to let opposing teams just hang around, which is what happened two night ago to an extent. Look for the Hornets to make defensive rebounding a priority in their rematch tonight.

“We’ve had good flashes of basketball in each of our three games. Certainly, it seems like we’re starting well, which is a good sign… We’re building on things, we’re growing, improving and the guys are getting chemistry together. [The offense] has been really good, really encouraging. If we continue to space the floor, drive-and-kick, find the open man, then it’s just a matter of making the right reads at the rim and knocking down shots.” – Gordon Hayward

For the most part, preseason play has gone quite well for the Hornets, with pace, ball movement and defensive rebounding really standing out compared to last year’s standards. Piecing together another solid 48-minute performance tonight against the Magic and locking in on a couple key areas would be a great way to close out the exhibition slate for Charlotte.

Additional Notes: The Hornets scored 123+ points in a non-overtime game just once last regular season (126-125 home victory over the Chicago Bulls on Oct. 23, 2019)… F Gordon Hayward (right fifth finger avulsion fracture) will miss his second straight game for Charlotte.