Hornets Erase 19-Point Deficit to Defeat Trail Blazers, Snap Two-Game Skid

They aren't all pretty, and tonight certainly wasn't that for the Charlotte Hornets, who had to fight and grind their way to a down-to-the-wire victory over the Portland Trail Blazers by a 103-101 score to move back to .500 on the season.

Kon Knueppel punched through a pair of threes to get things going for Charlotte, and shortly after, the Hornets' offense went ice cold. Portland would build its lead up to as many as 19 before the Hornets started chipping away.

The combination of Jerami Grant and Deni Avdija gave Charlotte fits all night long, and even after they cut it to single digits right before the half, Avdija drained a deep and heavily contested three with 1.5 on the clock.

Charles Lee's squad pieced together a strong second half effort, never showing any signs of throwing in the towel, and by the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, they officially erased the deficit and took the lead.

Defense was the name of the game in the comeback for the Hornets, particularly at the end of the game, where Kon Knueppel drew a charge, forcing the Blazers to foul and put Miles Bridges on the line. Then, the final possession, where they defended the inbound nicely, and the Blazers threw the ball away.

Best of the Night: Ryan Kalkbrenner

Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel each played a big role in this game, while LaMelo was out, but I'm going to show some love to the rookie big man here. He was active on both ends of the floor tonight and had a beautiful sequence where he blocked a shot and then was rewarded by Miles Bridges for running the floor and threw down a thunderous dunk. Kalk finished the night with 13 points, six rebounds (three offensive), and two blocks.

Worst of the Night: Decision to rest Coby White

LaMelo Ball picked up his fourth foul in the first three minutes of the third quarter and took a seat on the bench for essentially the rest of the quarter, outside of one possession. He picked up his fifth foul at the 6:30 mark of the fourth. Sion James provided some quality minutes during that stretch, but the Hornets could have really used Coby White's help tonight. I understand the Hornets' plan of wanting to keep the somewhat banged-up guys from playing in both games of back-to-backs. I also understand that resting him tonight means he has two days off, then two more between Wednesday's game and Saturday's home contest. That said, I'm not sure the one extra day was worth it. Portland is clearly a better team than Sacramento. They needed all hands on deck tonight.

Up Next:

The Hornets will be back at it later on tonight (on the East Coast), taking on the Sacramento Kings. That too will tip off at 10 p.m. ET.