Dark horses meet
Last season's Eastern Conference dark horse was the New York Knicks, so who is this season's Eastern Dark Horse? I believe that many fans will think of the Charlotte Hornets. Second-year Lamelho Ball has played an All-Star performance, leading the team to seventh place in the East. Although they lost to the Magic in their last game and missed a five-game winning streak, their second-highest score per game doesn't lie, and they're still one of the league's best offensive teams. In this game, they have to challenge the New York Knicks.
The Knicks were able to become the dark horse of the East last season, not by offense, but by defense, but this season, the Knicks' defensive efficiency is only ranked sixteenth in the league, the midstream level, offense has never been their strength, so this also led to the Knicks' poor record this season. However, in these games, Barrett felt hot and led the team to 3 consecutive wins.
Ball is out
Lamelo Ball was sidelined due to illness, in this case, the Hornets' offense did not weaken in the slightest, Bridges in the first quarter of 8 shots 7, three-pointers 4 shots 3, free throws 5 of 5, 22 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal, unparalleled personal performance, led the Hornets to 34 points in a single quarter, while the Knicks only scored 24 points, only 2 points more than Bridges. After returning from the second quarter, Bridges narrowed down his offensive edge, only 6 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists on 3-of-5 shooting, but the point difference is still widening.
Rozier shot 4 of 4 in the quarter, 10 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists, leading the Hornets to take another 28 points, the Knicks did not have the slightest ability to fight back, and at the end of the half, the Charlotte Hornets led the New York Knicks by 18 points 62-44. In the second half, Randall and Barrett made a difference, Randall had 7 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists, and Barrett had 5 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists, but even so, the point difference still came to 19 points. After returning from the final quarter, the Hornets finally fell into a scoring drought.
The Hornets, who felt hot in the first three quarters, only scored 11 points in the last quarter, Thibodeau abandoned Randall, Quaker showed his might, and got 9 points, 1 rebound and 4 assists in a single quarter, even so, the Knicks could not reverse the game, only 20 points in a single quarter, and finally lost to the Charlotte Hornets 87-97, missing four consecutive wins.
Stub deprecation
As the team's home star, it is really regrettable that the last quarter was abandoned. Randall shot 6-of-16 from the game, with only 18 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists, and the plus-minus -22 was the second-to-last team. This is probably the only team boss in the league to beat himself into a blue-collar team! Barrett had 18 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, Quirkley 12 points, 3 rebounds and 7 assists, Topin 11 points and 6 rebounds, Robinson 10 points and 6 rebounds, and no other player scored in double figures. The decline of the Knicks also heralded the rise of a new dark horse in the East.
This season's dark horse in the East is none other than the Charlotte Hornets. Without Lamelo Ball, they still won the game and at one point led the Knicks by 23 points. Bridges felt hot, 38 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists on 14-of-20 shooting, but it was a player with such strength who was willing to become the second or even third boss of the team, which is the team culture. Rozier also had 22 points, six rebounds and seven assists, while Hayward had 16 points, two rebounds and four assists, and although only three people scored in double figures, it was more than enough to beat the Knicks.