Naz Reid made an immediate impact in his Charlotte debut, putting up 20 points and 11 rebounds as the Hornets held off the Brooklyn Nets 110-103 on Wednesday night.
Grayson Allen gave Charlotte a big lift off the bench with 21 points, while Dennis Schroder finished with 19 and did his best work late. Brandon Miller added 18 points and Moussa Diabate chipped in 17 as the Hornets survived with a short-handed lineup.
Charlotte was missing starters Coby White, who was out with a left calf strain, and shooting guard Kon Knueppel, sidelined by a right hamstring strain. Knueppel had led the NBA last season in 3-pointers made. The Hornets also entered this season with a new look after dealing star point LaMelo Ball to Minnesota in the offseason move that brought Reid to Charlotte.
Brooklyn got a huge night from Julius Randle, who scored 33 points on 11-for-18 shooting in his Nets debut. Michael Porter Jr. added 26 points on 10-for-21 shooting, but none of Brooklyn’s other three starters reached double figures.
The Nets, celebrating their 60th season, wore white uniforms with red and blue in a nod to their ABA days.
Charlotte had built a 10-point cushion before Brooklyn trimmed it to five going into the fourth quarter. Porter pulled the Nets within 94-90 with a floater at the 7:20 mark, but Schroder took over from there. He scored eight of the next 10 points for Charlotte and finished the stretch with a finger roll layup that pushed the lead to 102-92 with 5:38 left.
Brooklyn still had one more opening to make it a one-possession game after Randle’s three-point play with 1:16 remaining, but Egor Demin turned it over and Allen answered with a 3-pointer that closed the door.
Mikel Brown Jr., the No. 6 pick in the draft by the Nets, scored six points and handed out three assists in 20 minutes off the bench.
The Hornets host the Atlanta Hawks in their home opener Friday. The Nets are next at the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday.
In Other News...
Nets New-Look Offense Impressed But One Old Problem Is Already Back
The new offense looked plenty capable in Brooklyns season opener at Barclays Center, even in a 110-103 loss to Charlotte. Julius Randle settled in quickly in his Nets debut, while Michael Porter Jr. provided another scoring punch, giving the team a glimpse of the firepower it had been hoping to unleash with its revamped lineup.
But the bigger concern showed up on the other end, where the same issues that have haunted the Nets before were hard to miss. Charlotte repeatedly turned missed shots and loose possessions into extra chances, and Brooklyns defensive lapses helped the Hornets stay in control late, a troubling early reminder that the offense may not be the only thing this group needs to sort out. [Read more 🡒]
Nets Got An Early Look At Charlottes New Life After LaMelo
Charlottes season opener offered an early glimpse at how life might look after LaMelo Ball, and the answer was a balanced, spread-the-production kind of night. In a 110-103 win over the Nets, the Hornets got major early contributions from newcomers Naz Reid and Grayson Allen, with Allen providing a steady scoring punch off the bench and helping set the tone for an offense that did not need one dominant engine to get by.
Brooklyn had chances to make it a different story, but the scoring burden was concentrated in just a couple of places, which made the margin for error thin once Charlotte settled in. Reids all-around debut was part of that story, but the bigger takeaway for the Nets is the one they just got up close: this version of Charlotte can still create problems without leaning on the same star-driven formula it used before. [Read more 🡒]
Nets Young Backcourt Faces An Early Reality Check After Rough Opener
The Nets young backcourt got an early dose of the regular-season learning curve in a 110-103 loss to the Hornets, and Egor Dmin was candid afterward about how much work still lies ahead. He pointed to his own shooting struggles and said his energy level needs to stay higher, a useful self-assessment for a Brooklyn group trying to build habits while still finding its footing.
There were some encouraging signs in the same game, too, especially from the pairing of Julius Randle and rookie Mikel Brown Jr., who showed real comfort working off one another in the half court. Jordi Fernndez saw enough in the passing and decision-making to believe the pieces can grow together, even if the execution is still uneven and the cleaner version of this group remains a work in progress. [Read more 🡒]