NBA Power Rankings: Charlotte Hornets are trending up

[Zod]

Looks like the Hornets jumped 6 spots in the ESPN power rankings. Fair?

 

21. Charlotte Hornets
2020-21 record: 5-5
Previous ranking: 27

One night after nearly making history against brother Lonzo, LaMelo Ball became the youngest player in NBA history to register a triple-double during Saturday's win over the Hawks. Ball's performance put a nice exclamation point on a 3-1 week for a Hornets group that was always confident the rookie guard could come in and make an early impact. -- Friedell

This week: NYK, DAL, @TOR, @TOR

 

(source)

[jfra78]

Nba.com has them at 15

https://www.nba.com/news/power-rankings-2020-21-week-4

15

Last Week: 26 ↑

Charlotte Hornets

Record: 5-5
Pace: 101.6 (13) OffRtg: 106.8 (22) DefRtg: 107.8 (10) NetRtg: -1.0 (16)

On Friday, LaMelo Ball was one assist shy of becoming the youngest player in NBA history to record a triple-double. No worries, though. He went and did it 24 hours later, registering 22 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists (with just one turnover) in the Hornets’ win over the Hawks. And Ball hasn’t just been putting up numbers. The Hornets won both games even though their starting lineup was outscored by 18 points in its 19 total minutes. On Friday, Ball was a part of the Hornets’ 32-14 run to close the win over his brother’s team. And on Saturday, he had seven points and four assists as the Hornets took control against Atlanta with a 17-6 run to close the first half.

Gordon Hayward made a little personal history in the Hornets’ first win over the Hawks last week, scoring a career-high 44 points in Atlanta on Wednesday. Charlotte had Hayward setting a lot of ball screens for Ball and Devonte’ Graham to get him matched up with Trae Young or just to get the Hawks scrambling, and it worked more often (see here, here and here) than not.

The Hornets played a lot of zone in both games against the Hawks, and have played the most zone in the league (17 possessions per game), according to Synergy tracking. They rank as the fourth most improved defensive team, having allowed 5.0 fewer points per 100 possessions than they did last season, so it’s working so far. But they have yet to play a team that currently ranks higher than ninth offensively and won’t have a game against any team in the top eight until they play a two-game series against the Pacers on Jan. 27 and 29.

[jfra78]

Both of these are before the knicks game

[Shocker]

We need Cody back but a trade for a good big would be nice right about now.