The Charlotte Hornets have to tweak the LaMelo Ball back-to-back strategy

The Charlotte Hornets have been trying to find ways to manage LaMelo Ball's workload on back-to-backs. In previous years, he would often sit out one of the two games. This year, the Hornets have recently taken to bringing him off the bench for one of the two contests.

The idea here is simple. They want him not to play more than around 28 minutes on back-to-backs. The Hornets would like those minutes to come in crucial junctures, especially the fourth quarter.

The thought process is that if Ball comes off the bench, the bulk of his minutes will come in the second and fourth quarter as opposed to the first and the third. In one sense, it's working because Ball is on the court. He's not missed a game since December 14.

However, with this new strategy, the Hornets keep finding themselves in a hole early on. Per Doug Branson, the Hornets are down by more than eight every time Ball comes off the bench when he first gets into the game.

In the 3 games that the Hornets have brought LaMelo off the bench they have been outscored 53-25 (8.67 avg margin) during those Ball-less opening minutes.

IND: 16-6 IND start, Ball enters at 6:36
GSW: 24-17 GSW start, Ball enters at 5:09
CLE: 13-2 start, Ball enters at 8:07
— Doug Branson - Subscribe to Every Hornets Boxscore (@DougBransonLOH) January 22, 2026

That was brought into full focus last night. On ESPN, a rare national TV game for the Hornets, Ball entered when it was 13-2, and he struggled all night long. Usually, he does pretty well coming off the bench, but last night's game was ugly for everyone.

Before you clamor for Charles Lee to be fired for a foolish strategy, understand a few things. He's not going rogue on this and benching Ball for no reason. There is a reason, and it's largely a team-wide decision, so the trainers, front office, and coaches are involved.

Additionally, other teams have adopted this strategy. The San Antonio Spurs have attempted to manage Victor Wembanyama on back-to-backs. The New Orleans Pelicans have tried to figure it out for Zion Williamson, too.

Jan 18, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (1) warms up before a game against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

The problem is not in limiting Ball's minutes on back-to-backs, but the placement of those minutes is sometimes troubling. Every time, it puts the Hornets in a hole, and it can be tough to climb back out of those holes.

The solution should not be to abandon the strategy but to tweak it. Instead of benching Ball, they should optimize his minutes so they primarily come in the first and fourth quarters, arguably the two most important ones.

If the Hornets want to target 25 minutes on a back-to-back for Ball, that's fine, but here's probably a better way of allocating them:

1Q: 7 minutes
2Q: 4 minutes
3Q: 6 minutes
4Q: 8 minutes

This allows the Hornets to avoid a slow start and have him available for most of the fourth quarter. The trouble is the minutes Ball is off the court, but that's a problem whether there's a minutes restriction or not. He can't play 48 every night, no matter what.

Perhaps this implies a trade is necessary since Collin Sexton isn't able to keep things going quite as well with Ball on the bench, but either way, this strategy needs some fine-tuning.

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