A cursory glance would’ve told you the Hornets (-2) and Pacers played a regular NBA basketball game in Indianapolis on Wednesday night.
Sure, neither played much defense as Charlotte took a 71-70 halftime lead, but this wasn’t something exceptional or particularly noteworthy. It was simply two gifted offensive teams who couldn’t defend. Many NBA teams can’t defend (at least in the way an old-school guy at the local dive bar yelling at the analog TV desires); it’s not a pressing problem.
The Hornets and Pacers weren’t breaking new ground. What else is on? Oh, I hear Station Eleven is great!
But in the second half, Charlotte gave in to that all-too-human (young) impulse to be a bully. They stuffed the Pacers into their locker and took their lunch money. And yes, the money was for the rest of the week, darn it. Their mom is going to kill them.
The @hornets beat the Pacers 158-126, including dropping 87 in the 2nd half.
It was the…
– Most points in Hornets history
– Most points allowed by the Pacers since they joined the NBA
– Most points by any team in a 2nd half since Jan. 1991 (Rockets-Nuggets) pic.twitter.com/TmuzaMIHOY— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 27, 2022
It’s not like the Hornets are an old NBA team by any means (inaugural year, 1988). But man: A franchise-record 158 points in a game that was within one at the half, well that’s nothing to gloss over. Doing it to the Pacers, who have been in the NBA since 1976, is abject cruelty. Scoring 87 points in a half — the first time anyone, not even Jordan’s Bulls, Duncan’s Spurs, or any Lebron team, has done it in over 30 years — is deep grammar school trauma.
Kelly: 39 PTS, 10 3PT
Melo: 29 PTS, 13 AST, 10 REB
Miles: 22 PTS, 4 REB
Terry: 20 PTS, 3 AST
Bouk: 13 PTS, 3 REB
Cody: 11 PTS, 3 AST, 3 REB
Hornets: Win#AllFly | @drpepper pic.twitter.com/lyD2uTyoKC— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) January 27, 2022
I mean, honestly, four Hornets scored 20+ points! Kelly Olynyk, a backup big man, had almost 40 points and made 10 threes off the bench. Team talisman LaMelo Ball had what seemed like an easy-breezy triple-double, especially for someone as talented as him.
Everything on point tonight 🎯👌@MELOD1P x @KELLYOUBREJR#AllFly | @HornetsOnBally pic.twitter.com/W1Cms5SKuu
— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) January 27, 2022
Patently absurd, but also easy.
At 27-22 and seventh in the East, no one will take the Hornets seriously as a title contender. The current consensus money line has Charlotte at +10000 to win the championship in June. But efforts like these are ones you remember forever and are perhaps the start of something extraordinary. They’re what a young team needs to build on for the future.
The Pacers are going to remember it. Because when push came to shove, the Hornets stuffed their faces into their own court and refused to let them come up for air until they said “uncle.” They also threatened to give the Pacers endless wet willies if they didn’t show some respect, which was gross.
And that isn’t anything people forget. That’s a little brother begging for peace and solitude from a big brother like LaMelo’s Hornets, who are well on their way.
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