The Charlotte Hornets opened the 2026-27 season with a 110-103 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night, and the result fit a familiar pattern: another season-opening victory for a franchise that has now won six straight openers.
One of the biggest takeaways came from Naz Reid, whose fit looked real in game action after plenty of optimism about what he could bring to the roster. Reid looked calm with the ball, often becoming the center of the offense, and finished just short of a triple-double with 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
That matters even more with LaMelo Ball out of the picture. Charlotte lost a major piece of its playmaking, but Reid’s performance hinted at how this group might function going forward. The idea is simple enough: if the Hornets need a new engine, Reid may end up being a major part of that answer.
Brandon Miller, meanwhile, had a rough night. Charlotte clearly spent the offseason trying to deepen the rotation, and that showed in the way the offense stayed balanced.
But Miller was still supposed to be the face of it, and he didn’t deliver against what didn’t look like a particularly strong Brooklyn team. He had just signed a $209 million deal, so a poor opener is hardly the start he wanted.
Even with two of their three best offensive players unavailable, the Hornets found enough scoring to hold off the Nets by sticking to the same team-first approach Charles Lee and his staff built into last season’s success. The ball kept moving, the possessions stayed shared, and Charlotte trusted the pass.
That style isn’t flashy, and the turnovers and inefficiency were still there, but it gives the Hornets a reliable baseline. The ceiling may be lower without all of their top-end creation, yet the system can still generate clean looks possession after possession.
And the formula that carried Charlotte last year showed up again here: make more threes than the other team, and win the possession battle. Against Brooklyn, the Hornets did both, and at least for one night, that was enough.
In Other News...
Brandon Miller Just Delivered The Kind Of Start Hornets Fans Wanted
Brandon Miller gave the Hornets the kind of early jolt their season opener needed at Barclays Center, flashing the athleticism that made him one of the franchises core young pieces. The second overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft is entering his fourth NBA season, and Charlotte has already made it clear how much it values his place in the rebuild.
His start was headlined by a highlight dunk, the sort of play that can set a tone in a game and, just as importantly, remind everyone how much more upside still sits in his game. After an offseason extension, Miller is no longer just a promising piece for the Hornets. He is part of the long-term answer, and nights like this are why the optimism around him has stayed so strong. [Read more 🡒]
Brandon Miller Now Carries A Bigger Hornets Expectation Than Ever
Brandon Millers rise in Charlotte took another major step when he signed a rookie-scale extension that locks him in long term and signals just how central the Hornets believe he can become. After opening the season with 18 points against the Brooklyn Nets and logging a team-high 35:39, the second-year wing looked every bit like someone expected to shoulder more than scoring as the franchise tries to build something real around its young core.
Miller has already framed his value as more than a shot-making burden, pointing to the broader role hes supposed to fill on both ends of the floor. For the Hornets, that means a player who can help in ways that show up beyond the box score, and for Miller it raises the bar even higher as Charlotte pushes toward a playoff chase it has been talking about all offseason. [Read more 🡒]
Dennis Schrder Is Already Giving The Hornets Something They Needed
Dennis Schrder did not need much time to show Charlotte what it was getting when it brought him over from Cleveland. Starting at point guard in the Hornets 110-103 win over Brooklyn, he finished with 19 points and looked very much like the kind of steady hand this roster has been searching for. His impact went beyond the box score, too, with coach Charles Lee pointing to the veterans leadership and basketball IQ as traits that stood out almost immediately.
For a Hornets team still sorting out its identity, that kind of presence matters just as much as scoring. Schrder has already earned the staffs trust, and the early signs suggest he can help organize possessions, settle the group and bring a needed voice in tense stretches. The bigger question now is how quickly that influence shows up when the games get tighter and the margins shrink even further. [Read more 🡒]