“I lacked attention, and I’m not supposed to lack attention at any time. I thought the ball was going to go out and I was about to prevent it from ending up in the stands, while he rushed to save the ball. We had a head to head collision. You have to thank him for not yelling at me too much. »
The action may have been a joke, but it would not have made the Hornets laugh if LaMelo Ball had not been able to return to the field to face the Pelicans and if Charlotte had ended its great winning streak.
The shock was still so severe that LaMelo Ball remained on the ground for long moments before heading to the locker room to have a stitch placed above his right eye. For his part, Charles Lee… took it pretty well! Above all, he was able to stay on the bench to lead his team.
An impressive frontal collision
Once back, the leader took another blow to the face, much lighter, when Jeremiah Fears let his hand drag after a feint. Everything returned to normal afterwards, since LaMelo Ball was able to come to his senses and regain his best level. So much so that he almost brought the Hornets back into the game single-handedly after returning from the locker room, until his equally impressive finish, like his dunk to put Charlotte in front at the start of the fourth quarter after being up to 22 points behind.
In the euphoria of victory, Lonzo Ball’s little brother did not hold it against his coach. “He went towards the ball, so did I, and our heads collided. It was unfortunate, but I’m still alive and breathing, so who cares? We won, that’s what’s most important. »
In the end, this unfortunate headbutt gave a big boost to the rest of the team, motivated by the thunderous return of its leader and his hardened steel skull. Charles Lee in any case appreciated the attitude of a leader who is often criticized but who performed yesterday with his 24 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists.
“I love his mindset: ‘Let me go get back on my feet and get back on the field’”, confirmed Charles Lee. “It just shows that he continues to progress, that he is able to take a blow like that and move on. He really helped our team. He reacted very well to a stupid coach.”
Who made a mockery of the event by rushing into the locker room with a helmet, to chase LaMelo Ball!
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | To | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Fte | Pts |
| Brandon Miller | 33 | 30:05 | 43.5 | 37.5 | 87.9 | 1.1 | 3.5 | 4.6 | 3.4 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 20.8 |
| Lamelo Ball | 40 | 27:23 | 40.6 | 36.9 | 88.2 | 0.9 | 4.0 | 4.8 | 7.6 | 3.1 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 2.6 | 19.0 |
| Could Knueppel | 49 | 31:58 | 48.6 | 42.7 | 89.5 | 1.2 | 4.2 | 5.4 | 3.6 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 18.8 |
| Miles Bridges | 49 | 32:27 | 44.9 | 33.4 | 83.8 | 1.0 | 5.2 | 6.2 | 3.5 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 18.4 |
| Collin Sexton | 41 | 22:34 | 48.8 | 39.4 | 87.7 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 3.8 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 14.4 |
| Ryan Kalkbrenner | 38 | 23:30 | 77.7 | 0.0 | 67.1 | 2.4 | 3.7 | 6.1 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 8.6 |
| Moussa Diabaté | 46 | 24:59 | 64.1 | 100.0 | 65.6 | 3.6 | 4.8 | 8.5 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 2.6 | 8.5 |
| Three Man | 30 | 16:16 | 37.4 | 32.8 | 84.2 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 7.5 |
| PJ Hall | 8 | 15:53 | 60.0 | 100.0 | 70.6 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 5.4 | 0.6 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 7.0 |
| Tidjane Salaün | 31 | 16:02 | 51.8 | 44.3 | 70.0 | 0.8 | 3.6 | 4.4 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 6.4 |
| Kj Simpson | 14 | 15:56 | 34.8 | 30.8 | 62.5 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 6.0 |
| Sion James | 50 | 24:20 | 37.3 | 34.8 | 86.5 | 0.6 | 2.9 | 3.5 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 5.8 |
| Grant Williams | 9 | 17:27 | 30.4 | 23.5 | 66.7 | 0.8 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 4.7 |
| Josh Green | 26 | 15:53 | 42.9 | 39.4 | 81.8 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 4.3 |
| Liam Mcneeley | 28 | 12:13 | 38.6 | 37.9 | 80.6 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 4.1 |
| Antonio Reeves | 7 | 8:00 | 50.0 | 50.0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 3.0 |
| Pat Connaughton | 22 | 7:03 | 48.9 | 40.7 | 61.5 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 2.9 |
| Mason Plumlee | 14 | 8:56 | 75.0 | 0 | 66.7 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 2.9 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 1.9 |
| Drew Peterson | 6 | 10:40 | 12.5 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.8 |
Worth a look
