Are LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller suiting up for Hornets vs. Bulls?
12/30/2024 11:11 AM
The Charlotte Hornets take on the Chicago Bulls at home for their last game of the year. Unfortunately for them, they’ve lost seven straight games and most of that has been due to the injuries to their star players LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller in a few games with some nagging injuries. Ball has played in four of the 11 games in December, while Miller hasn’t played at all this month.
LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller’s status vs. Bulls
Both Ball and Miller are listed as doubtful to suit up against the Bulls. Ball has soreness in both his wrist and ankle, while Miller’s sprained ankle is likely to keep them out of this game. On the bright side for Ball, he’s already matched his amount of games from a season ago with 22 games. To see him potentially miss a few more games is frustrating, but it’s a consolation prize to see him a little more healthy heading into the new year.
Hornets still trying to find the right mindset for the rest of the season
Young teams go through adversity before actually figuring out their identity. With all the injuries they’ve had to their key players, it’s been hard to find it. Charles Lee talked about that and more after their loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
"The message is that we've got to be obsessed with daily improvement. I think some adversity is (inevitable) in life and in basketball,” Lee said. “It's going to happen, so we just have to be prepared to handle it the best that we possibly can. I think that the mindset that we come to work with every day, the mindset for every game, the competitiveness, the togetherness is just important to withstand.”
“Everyone's journey is different,” the Hornets coach continued. ‘There's no quit in this team and there's a ton of fight which is what I love, because that's what it's going to take. Nobody's going to feel sorry for us. Life doesn't feel sorry for you. The world keeps spinning, so you've got to figure out how do. I just kind of reset and refocus and come with the right attitude to make a change? A lot of that has got to be in your actions."
What the Hornets can take away from their roster
It’s hard to find the silver lining when a team’s not winning games, but the Hornets so have some. One of them is that Mark Williams seems to be finding himself.
In nine games, he’s putting up 11 points and 6.7 rebounds, with just under a block per game. The numbers don’t jump off the page, but he’s moving well laterally and as a help defender. He doesn’t move the needle offensively like the Hornets’ two star players, but he’s finding his groove. He’s converting put-backs and catching lobs around the rim, but his true value has shined defensively being able to alter shots.
Charlotte is struggling to win games, but eventually, that will change.
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