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Naz Reid posts 20 and 11 in Charlotte debut as Hornets beat Nets 110-103
Charlotte won its opener without two starters, and Julius Randle's 33 points in his Nets debut were not enough for Brooklyn.
Reid leads a short-handed Charlotte opener
Naz Reid scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in his Charlotte debut as the Hornets beat the Nets 110-103 on Wednesday night. [1] The win put Charlotte at 1-0, while Brooklyn fell to 0-1. [2]
Charlotte played without starters Coby White, who had a left calf strain, and shooting guard Kon Knueppel, who had a right hamstring strain. [1] Knueppel led the NBA last season in three-pointers made. [1]
Who scored for the Hornets
Grayson Allen scored 21 points off the bench. [1] Dennis Schroder added 19 points, eight of them in the fourth quarter. [1] Brandon Miller scored 18 points and Moussa Diabate scored 17. [1]
Reid arrived in the trade that sent star point guard LaMelo Ball to Minnesota after the season. [1] Charlotte was eliminated from the Eastern Conference play-in tournament last season. [1]
How the game turned
Charlotte went into halftime leading 54-48. [3] The Hornets outscored Brooklyn 30-18 in the paint in the second quarter. [3] Michael Porter Jr. scored 10 points in the first four minutes of the third quarter, and the Hornets shot 6-for-13 from three in that period. [3]
Charlotte's 10-point lead was trimmed to five heading into the final period. [1] Porter cut the deficit to 94-90 with a floater with 7:20 left in regulation. [1]
Schroder, who debuted for his 12th different NBA team, outscored the Nets 8-2, and then a finger roll layup extended the lead to 102-92 with 5:38 to play. [1] Egor Demin's turnover led to a three-pointer from Allen that sealed the game. [1]
Brooklyn's debuts and problems
Julius Randle scored 33 points on 11-for-18 shooting in his Nets debut. [1] He finished with seven assists and eight rebounds, and made 3 of 5 from three. [3] Porter scored 26 points on 10-for-21 shooting, grabbed seven rebounds and shot 5-of-11 from three. [1][3]
None of Brooklyn's other three starters scored in double figures. [1] Charlotte beat the Nets 20-8 in second-chance points for the game. [3] Brooklyn gave up five shots on one Charlotte possession, which was an issue for an undersized team. [3]
Randle said he put the blame on himself for Brooklyn's rebounding problems and that the team must impose its physicality. [3]
Mikel Brown Jr. makes his debut
Mikel Brown Jr., taken by the Nets with the No. 6 pick in the draft, checked in with 3:57 to go in the first quarter for his NBA debut. [1][3] That came after Mo Wagner entered for Day'Ron Sharpe, who picked up his second foul with about seven minutes to play in the quarter. [3]
Brown finished with six points, three assists and three rebounds in 20 minutes off the bench. [1][3] He shot 2-for-8 from the field and 1-for-3 from three. [3] Randle said Brown would be great and that his future is very bright. [3]
Brooklyn also wore white uniforms with red and blue as a nod to its ABA days while celebrating its 60th season. [1]
What to watch next
If you follow Charlotte, the next game is the home opener against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday. [1] Check the status of White and Knueppel, who were both out with strains in this one. [1]
If you follow Brooklyn, the Nets play at the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday. [1] Watch the rebounding, which Randle blamed himself for after Charlotte won the second-chance points 20-8. [3]
Sources
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