Hornets trample Nets 136-117 in first game of 2025-26 NBA season

Fans started to leave the Spectrum Center early. By the time the horn sounded for the end of the game, the arena was nearly empty.

Not because, like in recent years, the Charlotte Hornets were getting blown out.

No, the Hornets were the team blowing out their opponent.

After seven long, dreadful months, Hornets regular season basketball began at the Spectrum Center on Wednesday night.

The Hornets and Nets battled for the first 15 minutes of the night, and the Hornets held a 44-42 lead with 9:24 to go in the first half. During that time, the Hornets saw contributions from all their newcomers, including first NBA buckets from Kon Knueppel, Sion James, and Ryan Kalkbrenner.

After the 9:24 mark, the Hornets took over.

The team want on a run that gave them a 77-60 lead headed into halftime, a lead propelled by stellar first half performances from LaMelo Ball (10 points, 7 assists), Brandon Miller (17 points), Miles Bridges (12 points, 9 rebounds), and Collin Sexton (10 points).

As the second half began, the two teams started trading buckets back and forth again. The Hornets lead fluctuated between 12 and 20 the entire quarter, but after three the Hornets entered the fourth quarter with a lead of 111-97.

The Hornets held a DOMINANT fourth quarter, with LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller. Tre Mann, and Tidjane Salaun all contributing to give the Hornets a 20+ point lead. As the buzzer sounded for the end of game one, the Hornets took home a victory, beating the Nets 136-117.

The Hornets had an offensive breakout, with a franchise record 9 different players finishing with double digits. They finished with 34 assists, and shot 53.8% from the field and 48.6% from deep, making 18 threes.

The return of Brandon Miller and Tre Mann was notable, as the two combined for 37 points and 13 assists. The two looked like they had not missed a beat, and tonight was just a glimpse of what will come as the season continues on.

"It's good," Miller said on how his wrist is feeling after the game. "No pain tonight, probably just gonna get in the cold tub after this. Come back tomorrow, and more treatment to work on getting back to next game."

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