About that time the Hornets had a wild day due to coronavirus testing but still won
Despite being unable to get into their own arena until 90 minutes before the game and missing a starter plus two bench players, Charlotte found a way to beat Minnesota
Roughly an hour and a half before tipoff and long after he would typically be fully immersed into his customary pre-game pattern, Cody Zeller found himself in an unusual place.
Inside his car. At a Spectrum Center parking lot. Surrounded by uncertainty.
“We were all joking,” Zeller recalled later Friday night. “We were like, ‘We need to start some stretching lines in the loading dock or something.’”
That’s what happens when you learn you are going to be without a starter in PJ Washington and two rotation players in Caleb Martin and his twin brother Cody mere hours prior to the game, capping off a wild flurry of events that were spawn out of the necessity in following the league’s health and safety protocols. The scene was so bizarre their coach was temporarily transformed into a ball-retriever, essentially playing the role of the clubhouse attendants or others who typically chase down the missed shots and toss it back to the player.
“We took the court with like eight minutes on the clock before tipoff,” Zeller said. “There were like four of us ready to take the court and Coach (James) Borrego came out and rebounded for us, the four of us. A very unique situation. So, we knew coming into the season there were going to be a couple of nights like this where you don’t know who’s going to be available to play, your routine is thrown off. But I think every team is going to deal with it at some point during the season, kind of waiting to the last minute (to see) who’s available to play, who’s going to be out. So this was one of our nights, but I thought we handed it pretty well.”
Thanks, in part, to another Terry Rozier explosion. In continuing his re-emergence following his return from an ankle injury that sidelined him for two games, Rozier poured in 41 points and promptly put the Hornets on his 6-foot-1 frame in the second half to the tune of 26 points, powering short-handed Charlotte to a 120-114 victory over Minnesota.
Rozier also had 16 in the fourth quarter, dutifully fulfilling the late-game scoring role.
“He was huge,” said Borrego, whose team welcomed Devonte’ Graham back after missing the last week nursing a left groin injury. “I mean we don’t get this win done without Terry. He was fantastic and it really was the first half, too. He had a look about him and I should’ve probably got him some more looks in the first half. I probably left a few more on the table for him in the first half, but he stuck with it and we found him. We called his number — the guys called his number — and he delivered tonight.
“Terry deserves a ton of credit for this victory and he was great down the stretch. But overall, he kept us going. When we were dry, he kept us going. He was talking in huddles. So even off the floor, he’s showing his leadership and his will to win games.”
More than a few people loudly ridiculed the Hornets inking Rozier to a three-year, $56-million contract. He’s given them plenty of return on that investment in less than a season and a half, recording 40 or more points three times and posting 30-plus points on nine occasions. In comparison, he never scored 40 in his four seasons with Boston and only reached 30 points twice.
Now, he’s scored 30-plus points in consecutive games for the first time in his career. Sometimes it may appear as if he has a chip on his shoulder. But he insists he doesn’t.
“It’s just another day,” Rozier said. “I’m not really out here to prove nobody wrong. I feel like I’ve established myself in this league. All I want to do is get better, and help the guys around me get better and do what I can for this organization. I’m not going to sleep at night or waking up every morning trying to find out who can I have jump on my side of being a good basketball player. I don’t really need nobody but my teammates and my coaches and obviously the fans. But I just feel good and I just want to keep it going.”
Two other things of note to pull out of the crazed evening:
• With 20 points and 11 rebounds to go along with four assists and three steals, LaMelo Ball — playing in his first matchup against the guy drafted two spots ahead of him at No. 1 overall — etched his name into the franchise’s record books. It marked the third time he’s put up at least 20 points and collected double-digit rebounds, which just happens to be the most by any rookie guard in team history.
And he needed only 27 games to accomplish it.
• Miles Bridges’ 11 points and 10 rebounds represented his four straight double-double off the bench. This season, no one else in the league besides Bridges has registered four consecutive double-doubles off the bench. His stretch marks the longest double-double streak by a reserve in team history and he’s tied with Vlade Divac for the second-highest number of double-doubles in franchise history. Divac has five in 1997-98.
And all that was nearly in jeopardy.
As Zeller detailed in describing it as “one of the weirdest days I’ve had,” the first domino dropped when the Hornets canceled their scheduled 10 a.m. morning shootaround. The players, he said, were instructed to take their rapid COVID-19 test and go back home.
Zeller said at about 2 p.m. they were told to stay at their residences until further notice. They weren’t given the clearance to drive to the arena until two hours later and that’s when they were forced to stay inside their vehicles. Somewhere around 5 p.m., they underwent more testing to determine contact tracing. Per sources, that’s why the Martins were held out of action.
Finally, around 5:30 or so, the Hornets were allowed in the building.
Then bam. Game time.
“It felt like, we were all saying, an AAU game or a Summer League game or something like that where you just show up and play,” Zeller said. “I think it showed a lot of maturity by our guys that we were able to play well and get a win.”
“Coach gave us a lot of credit just because there was a lot of excuses for us that we could’ve fallen back on. Our routine was thrown off. We were missing a few guys. There’s a lot of excuses that we could’ve pulled, but it showed a lot of maturity that we were able to play well and get a win.”
Just don’t hold your breath waiting to see if the Hornets plan on somehow incorporating these, uh, significant changes permanently into the mix.
“No, no, absolutely not,” Borrego said. “I don’t want that pre-game routine. You can have it. I’ve never been a part of something like that. Never. I think it’s the mental piece of not knowing. The uncertainty of the day, not being together and being out of rhythm. I think those three things, it’s just very disruptive. But I’ve said this all along — I think this is a great learning, growth day for us that we’ve been able to stand up and be resilient throughout this day, and get better, and figure out a way to get a win.
“This is not easy. Any win in the league is tough, and under these circumstances our guys deserve a lot of credit. And hopefully this helps us grow and it strengthens our program even more. But I want nothing to do with a day like that.”