Trail Blazers Vs Hornets: Hornets win fourth straight, Coby White scores 20 in home debut
In the trail blazers vs hornets matchup at Spectrum Center, the Charlotte Hornets beat the Portland Trail Blazers 109-93 as Coby White scored 20 in his home debut. The victory was Charlotte’s fourth straight and improved the Hornets to 30-31.
Trail Blazers Vs Hornets game flow
Coby White entered the game with 4: 58 remaining in the first quarter, subbing in for LaMelo Ball. By the time he checked in the Hornets led 20-10 and Brandon Miller had already scored 7 points. White hit his first shot, a 3-pointer, and Charlotte closed the first quarter up 29-17.
Coby White's home debut
White made his home debut for the Hornets on Saturday in his third game for the team after being acquired from the Chicago Bulls at the NBA trade deadline. He came off the bench and scored 20 points in the 109-93 win. Prior to making his Hornets debut on Tuesday against his former team, White was sidelined for three weeks with a calf injury; Charlotte knew about the injury after trading for him and decided to hold him out until after the All-Star break.
White played 16 and 17 minutes, respectively, in his first two games with Charlotte as head coach Charles Lee worked him into the lineup. Against the Trail Blazers he increased his time to 21 minutes. White said he talked to his former college coach Roy Williams on Friday before meeting with him during pregame warmups; Williams was courtside for the game and then headed to Chapel Hill for North Carolina’s home game versus Virginia Tech.
On the courtside surprise, White said: "He didn’t tell me that he was going to be courtside, though. He said he didn’t know either. He’s been checking in on me every step of the way. " He added, "Obviously, a legendary coach, but I’ve been gone six, seven years. For him to still reach out, like I always say, our relationship is bigger than basketball. He’s helped me through a lot of tough"
Brandon Miller and supporting cast
Brandon Miller finished as the game’s leading scorer with 26 points, shooting 6-of-12 on 3s, and added 8 rebounds. LaMelo Ball supplied 15 points and 8 assists. Miles Bridges tallied 14 points, 8 boards, 5 assists and 3 steals. Altogether, six Hornets scored in double figures. Moussa Diabate was the leading contributor for the winners with 11. On the Blazers side, Donovan Clingan claimed 8.
Rebounds, threes and Portland struggles
Rebounding was a decisive edge: Charlotte grabbed 55 rebounds to Portland’s 39, including 20 offensive rebounds to Portland’s 11. Portland outshot Charlotte from distance on attempts, 47 to 43, but that was only attempts; Charlotte made 16 threes (38%) compared to Portland’s 11 (23%). The Blazers made 12 free throws in 19 tries (63%); Charlotte was 68% from the line. Jrue Holiday scored 25 for Portland and played 33 minutes; Jerami Grant played 32 minutes and scored 21. Holiday’s full line included 25 points, 4 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 turnovers plus a steal. Scoot Henderson played 23 minutes and produced 8 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds and 3 turnovers.
Rookie Kon Knueppel’s stat line read 29 minutes, 10 points on 4 for 11 from the field, 2 for 7 from three, 0 for 3 from the free-throw line, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 turnovers and an assist, and a plus-minus of +24. One other matter noted for Portland was that Deni Avdija’s injured back is causing issues for the team’s stretch run.
Standings and the immediate schedule
Charlotte has now won four straight and 16 of its past 20 to improve to 30-31. The Hornets currently hold the 10th spot in the Eastern Conference standings, which would put them in the NBA play-in tournament, but they are only three games behind the Orlando Magic for the No. 7 seed. Hornets coach Charles Lee said, "I feel their excitement, I feel their support. Our team feels it. The arena has a different buzz to it. I think that it’s always been really supportive of us, but I can feel it from tip off during the starting lineups now. " He added, "And so we appreciate it. We want more of it and we’ve got to make sure that we give them something to be able to come out, and support, and cheer for it and be proud of. "
The Hornets are off until Tuesday, when they host the Dallas Mavericks for the first end of back-to-back games. On Wednesday they will face the Boston Celtics at TD Garden in what could be a playoff preview. The Trail Blazers hop to Atlanta for the second half of a back-to-back; game time is 3: 00 PM, Pacific.
Charlotte’s 109-93 win over Portland combined hot threes, a dominant rebounding edge and the timely scoring of Coby White and Brandon Miller to produce the fourth straight victory for the Hornets.
