The most fun offense in the NBA is … the Charlotte Hornets?
The Hornets run fast, move the ball, and rain threes. They're beautiful to watch.
There’s nothing in the NBA quite like the Charlotte Hornets offense. They are Warriors East.
Charlotte, ranked third in offensive rating, has no central Steph Curry figure, or a passing hub like Draymond Green. Instead, they leverage their surplus of high-level pick-and-roll passers. With clever set plays and relentless pursuit of a better shot, they are always in motion, freeing their many good shooters for open looks.
One of the best things an offense can have in basketball is multiple skilled and smart creators. Drive and kicks become considerably more effective when anyone is a threat to pump and drive, or flow into another pick-and-roll.
The Hornets can drive and kick forever, always eventually finding a shot. Miles Bridges is an excellent shooter and a powerful driver, with a burgeoning scoring repertoire. Gordon Hayward is a cerebral creator with a midrange shot that is always available. Kelly Oubre Jr. is a high-flying shooter who can catch fire at any minute.
Terry Rozier can also catch fire at any minute, and he’s a clever guard who can score from anywhere. Rozier is the underrated lifeblood of the Hornets offense, with a great sense of how to keep the offense moving. Keep your eye on Rozier (#3) from the beginning:
Notice how he causes a Sixers miscommunication by venturing inside the three-point arc. Isaiah Joe and Seth Curry don’t know whether or not to switch, and Rozier immediately realizes this, ranging to the top of the key and then sprinting into space, creating an open three.
It’s this quick decision-making that is most impressive. Rozier wastes no time taking his space . He knows that if he drives close enough to the hoop, he’ll get Bridges a corner three. The Hornets create defensive mistakes with their ball-movement, and feast on them with their quick decisions.
LaMelo Ball is the team’s best player. A convincing All-Star candidate, Ball is one of the NBA’s most unique players, a flash of skinny arms and legs and funny mannerisms. His passing is exquisite, and his scoring tough to stop. He’s a great fit for a ball movement offense — he has no selfish desire to have everything run through him. He fits within the system, and elevates it to new levels.
He makes the sort of “star” passes that mere mortals can only dream of:
He benefits from the Hornets’ system in that he can always run into dribble hand-offs and create from there. Like Rozier, he plays with no hesitation, running everything at full speed:
Charlotte is one of the league’s best three-point shooting teams (37.4 percent, good for fourth). Despite their complex, free-wheeling offense, they rarely turn the ball over. They run hard in transition, ranking second in pace behind only Houston.
Coach James Borrego deserves a lot of credit for the job he’s done with this team. Here’s one of their most effective set plays:
Notice how Ball starts in the lane as Hayward runs a pick-and-roll, then pops to the top of the key once the defense has been disjointed. It’s another way to get Ball a chance to create something off the catch, and force the defense to make sharp rotations.
This team is not easy to defend! They are a bit easier to score on (25th in defense), but they’ll cross that bridge when they get to it.
What else is happening in the NBA?
Lakers drama has at least been postponed until their next loss, as they beat the tanking Magic last night. They got a hot streak from Carmelo Anthony (8-13 for 23 points) and the usual LeBron James performance (29-7-5 on 12-23 from the field). Russell Westbrook only dribbled it out of bounds off his foot once.
Steph Curry hit a buzzer-beater to beat the Rockets:
This is not the end of his bizarre cold stretch, however. Curry went 6-21 and 4-13 from three. They didn’t have Draymond Green or Klay Thompson, but barely beating the Rockets isn’t ideal. The world-beating Golden State team of earlier in the season has gone away as Curry’s shooting numbers have dwindled.
Grayson Allen was ejected for a flagrant 2 foul on Alex Caruso. It was a dirty play:
"Dude just grabbed me out of the air," Caruso said, per ESPN. "It's kind of bulls---. I don't know what else you can do about it. I'm just glad that I didn't have any major scary injuries right away."
The Nets stars came up with a great fourth quarter performance to beat the Spurs in San Antonio. James Harden had 37-10-11 and Kyrie Irving added 24 points.
Today is the final day of NBA All-Star voting. LeBron has a comfortable lead at the top. Starters will be announced on Thursday.