The Charlotte Hornets opened the season with a 110-103 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night, and the most encouraging part for the franchise came from the two newcomers expected to help define what comes next.
Naz Reid, one of the key pieces acquired in the LaMelo Ball trade, delivered right away with 20 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Grayson Allen gave Charlotte a major lift off the bench too, scoring 21 points and knocking down five 3-pointers. Together, they helped the Hornets start the 2026-27 campaign with a result that hinted at a different kind of offense than the one they ran with Ball.
Reid’s debut showed off the full package Charlotte believed it was getting. He hit four 3-pointers, piled up seven assists and helped the Hornets generate 20 second-chance points. For a team trying to replace Ball’s playmaking with something less dependent on one ball-dominant engine, that kind of night mattered.
Allen made his own impact in a different way. He went 6-for-9 from the field and finished with a plus-20 mark in 29 minutes, giving Charlotte the kind of efficient scoring punch every team wants from a reserve.
Dennis Schroder added 19 points and six assists in his first game with his 12th NBA franchise, while Brandon Miller scored 18 and Moussa Diabate chipped in 17. Five Hornets finished in double figures, and that balance was a big part of the story.
Brooklyn had its own headliners. Julius Randle came out strong in his Nets debut with 33 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, and Michael Porter Jr. added 26 points and seven rebounds. But no other Brooklyn player reached double figures, and that gap showed up late.
The Nets briefly got in front in the third quarter, but Charlotte answered with timely shooting from Reid and Allen. Then Schroder took over for a stretch in the fourth, scoring eight straight points to help close the door.
It’s only one night, and it doesn’t suddenly turn Charlotte into an Eastern Conference contender. But it did give the Hornets a first look at the kind of offense they’re trying to build now: more shared responsibility, more scoring options, and fewer possessions revolving around a single star.
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