Devonte’ Graham looked to have snapped out a painful shooting slump on Monday with five three-pointers. Wednesday proved that was little more than a mirage.
Gordon Hayward’s brilliance got the well-earned focus on the night. He scored 44 points, 14 of those coming in the fourth, as Charlotte fended off an Atlanta rally to earn a 102-94 win.
His 44 points were not just a season- or career-best performance, but a lifetime-best scoring effort. Hayward confirmed after the game that he had broken the 40-point barrier only one other time, a playoff game against the Clippers while with the Jazz in 2017 in which he scored exactly 40 points in a 111-106 loss.
Twenty-five of those points came in the first half as the Hornets built a double-digit lead and 14 came in the fourth quarter after Charlotte watched its lead wiped away until Hayward’s late-game heroics.
“Credit to my teammates for finding me early,” Hayward said. “A couple of threes go down and it definitely makes your night feel like it’s going to be a lot better and people were finding me all night. So thankful for them, thankful for coach for putting me in those situations to be successful. But absolutely with everything that has gone for me in my career injury-wise, I put in a lot of work and this one was fun. This one was a lot of fun and so hopefully I can try to build off of it.”
However, as noteworthy as Hayward’s performance was, it masked a growing problem in the Hornets’ starting backcourt. Graham’s 2-of-14 performance negated any positives from Monday. On the season, he is now shooting 27.1% from the field and 32.1% from three.
Still, despite his struggles, Graham closed Wednesday’s game, playing 10:10 in the fourth quarter to Ball’s 3:55. After the game, Hornets head coach James Borrego talked about Graham’s ability to affect a game even if he’s not scoring.
“I think he just he just impacts winning overall,” Borrego said. “His numbers have not been where we’re accustomed to and what we saw last year but he’s still impacts winning. It’s his decision-making, his poise.
“He could go 0-fo-10 and I have no problem with him taking the last shot of the game. I have full confidence in taking that shot,” he added. “Just having him on the floor gives us the best chance to win and he impacts winning in many ways. His talking, his communication, his poise, his ability to get us in spots. I got full trust in Devonte’.”
Ball, meanwhile, had an impactful and efficient game of his own. In 24 minutes, he finished with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting overall and 2-of-5 from 3-point territory. He added eight rebounds, five assists and turned the ball over just once.
“He’s got this knack that special,” Borrego said. “He’s able to find open bodies. It’s he and I working this out on when to let loose and go play and then rein him back and make sure that we’re running good offense and we’re getting good shots. And there’s a balance going on right now. I love his ability to create and make plays. I have to let that play out a little bit. That’s his gift. That’s what makes him special. But I also need to make good decisions and he understands that.
“This is a bright kid. We’re talking every single day about his decision-making and he gets it. There’s going to be some turnovers with him but I’m starting to see him make better and better decisions every single game.”
With his five assists, Ball extended his streak of consecutive games with at least five assists to six games, the second-longest streak in franchise history. After Wednesday, he’s averaging 4.9 assists to just 2.1 turnovers per game while shooting 41.2% from the field and 36.1% from beyond the arc.
“I have no idea what’s gonna happen when he touches the ball,” Borrego said, complimenting Ball’s vision. “I have no idea, his teammates don’t know and, most importantly, our opponents don’t know. He sparks us. He energizes us. You better have your hands ready because that ball could be zigging my way at any second….He’s special. Like he just ignites us.
“I thought he had a really poised game tonight. I felt very comfortable with him out there. But you better be ready to catch the ball.”
Advanced statistics still favor Graham on an individual basis as his playmaking and rebounding has helped him maintain a net rating of 3.8, better than Ball’s rating of -5.2. But Ball brings an energy to the court that can’t be denied, either by onlookers or Borrego, for much longer.