Borrego Praises Hornets' Ability to Overcome Adversity

Just an hour or two prior to tip-off, the Charlotte Hornets found out that they would be without center Nick Richards and P.J. Washington who are both dealing with a non-COVID-related illness. This brought the total number of players who would be out for the game to seven - a list that already included the likes of LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, Mason Plumlee, Jaden McDaniels, and Ish Smith.

Even with the odds not in their favor, the Hornets scratched and clawed their way to a 124-123 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Friday night. Earlier in the week, the Hornets took the 76ers to overtime on Monday and fell to the Sixers again but by just four points on Wednesday night. Regardless of who has been on the floor, head coach James Borrego is getting maximum effort and production from his players.

"That's probably the most proud I've been of a team in my four years here," Borrego said following the win over the Kings. "Just the resiliency, the never give in the fight, the perseverance, and just the buy-in. I love this group. I'm just so proud of them. And I was [proud] to the last couple of games. The way they fought but to go out there even more undermanned with seven of our top ten rotation players, those guys in the locker room deserve the credit. They battled from minute one to the last second."

Whether it was rookies James Bouknight, JT Thor, or the semi-experienced role player, Cody Martin, essentially everyone who saw the court contributed in some fashion which is a testament to Borrego and his staff. At times, I looked down on the court and saw three of the five on the floor being made up of guys who have spent most of their season down in the G-League. Borrego discussed the importance of the inexperienced guys playing well in big roles.

“To get this win, against a team that for the most part was fairly healthy, and they beat us pretty good in Sacramento, we needed everyone to step up tonight and the young guys really stepped up, and Bouk really had a big stretch there, saw a lot of growth from him not only offensively but on the defensive end as well. I thought JT Thor stepped up and made some big plays on the defensive end, his switchability and versatility defensively. Our team did a really good job defensively, and the third and fourth quarter and I thought Kai Jones stepped in and gave us some valuable minutes as well. Obviously, the big tip-in, but his impact was big for us in the few minutes he was out there, but the young guys deserve a lot of credit, but the vets do as well. Playing heavy minutes back-to-back – Miles [Bridges] with 40 minutes, Gordon [Hayward] with 42, Kelly [Oubre] 41. They battled and found a way to get a win.”

The Hornets will now hit the road for a six-game road trip that begins with the Dallas Mavericks on Monday at 8 p.m. EST.

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