A winning streak can boost a franchise, and Brandon Miller’s heady tip to deliver Charlotte Hornets the second home win of the 2024-25 season was exactly the type of game that could right the rocky ship that has been the first two weeks of the NBA season for the Hornets. A raucous Spectrum Center crowd cheered for the heroic Brandon Miller and his Hornets teammates from the floor, but the cheers fell for the plays that Charlotte’s big three, LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges and Miller and their supporting cast , they did them during the night. how the Hornets can be successful this season.

It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find adequate words to describe LaMelo Ball’s early season exploits. Charlotte’s lively leader single-handedly kept the Hornets alive in the fourth quarter with his Mary Poppins bag of tricks from behind the arc. He can get the ball to the shot from anywhere on the floor, on either foot, regardless of who is in front of him, whenever he wants, and his deep shooting skills have placed him in a pantheon that contains NBA luminaries such as Steph Curry. and Damian Lillard. It was so good from downtown. More than that, Wednesday night’s win was the full activation of the LaMelo Ball experience.

It was far from his most spectacular statistical production, but Ball was stellar Wednesday night in what will go down as one of the most impressive performances of his young career. The ball was in total control. He influenced the win on both ends, playing stout defense in the Pistons’ turbocharged backcourt without fouls while serving as the engine for Charlotte’s rebounding offense. LaMelo’s scoring charge in the fourth quarter will get the headlines, but he made play after play for his teammates while limiting the silly turnovers and mistakes that plagued the first two weeks of the season. The ball LaMelo played tonight, finishing with 25 points, eight assists and six rebounds, is a shot for an All-NBA bid and the main source of energy that will carry Charlotte’s supercharged offense into battle.

Tonight was Bridges’ best performance under Charles Lee. The Hornets coach spoke before the game about what he wanted to see from Miles tonight and going forward, and the veteran swingman delivered against his hometown team. “I think offensively, he’s pretty much the same mentality. He’s doing great in his running habits and trying to get away from it, but he’s just learning, I think offensively, the new places he’s on the floor. The message I have in Hitting It is that “I need you to be decisive, I need you to be aggressive and I need you to be confident in every catch.” Message received.

Bridges was aggressive (check) getting to the cup in the first half, marching to the free throw line as the Hornets’ most consistent source of offense early in tonight’s action. His returns in 2024 were marred by inactivity on offense and a tendency to float around the perimeter without the ball, but Bridges was decisive (check) tonight in his decision-making. He had a quick trigger on jump shots, but an even quicker first step when going downhill. Bridges played with confidence (check) on offense and gave Charlotte a spark they needed to get through tonight’s offensive droughts. His fearlessness in attacking Detroit’s front line of Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duren set the tone for the Hornets.

Last year’s top scorer is of course the Hornets’ third option on offense behind Ball and Miller, but we have yet to see much of his scoring prowess this season. Tonight, Bridges’ all-around offensive game was on full display and added a new dimension to Charlotte’s outside offense, which will continue to rise as he takes on his new role as the Hornets’ third banana .

Tonight was far from Miller’s best performance as a professional hooper, but it was just that. A professional night.

The sophomore guard struggled to knock down jumpers (3/11 from distance), but every shot Miller took carried weight. His long-range shots came at opportune times to either stifle a Pistons burst or jump-start a Hornets run, and while it’s been a struggle to find his range, Miller’s ever-present gravitas is a force in itself. His shooting ability has opened up driving lanes for his teammates, and those gases will only continue to spread once Miller makes the jumper.

His game-winner was a perfect encapsulation of the kind of big-play that Miller was drafted for.

After a costly turnover that allowed Detroit to take the lead, many players were sulking and would consider tonight’s game a lost cause. Not Miller. He kept his chin up (and credited his veteran teammates and coaching staff for adjusting his attitude) and let instinct take over to hit the Piston, trying to block him with a swim move to grab the board offense and lay off the game winner. the glass at the bell. It’s the kind of play you can’t teach, and it’s the kind of play Miller has the ability to make because of his size, athleticism and IQ.

The success of the 2024-25 Charlotte Hornets will come down to these three players. Ball, Bridges and Miller are good for fly-by-night highlights (like the four alley-oops they combined to throw tonight), but those top 10 plays ultimately have to it translates into winning basketball. Tonight he did, and set the blueprint for how each of the three must play for the Hornets to compete going forward. The atmosphere in the Spectrum Center was euphoric and rose to a fever pitch on the back of Charlotte’s big three.

And if they continue to build on the habits they showed against Detroit? Then tonight is just the start of something special brewing in the Queen City.

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