Hornets remain brilliant clutch situations as Malik Monk, LaMelo Ball shine in comeback win

Head coach James Borrego acknowledged that Wednesday was a microcosm of the Hornets season. First, the team fell behind by double digits early to a hot-shooting Phoenix Suns team, trailing by as many as 17 points in the second quarter.

But with their backs against the wall, the Hornets resiliency – the word of the season – showed brightest. Malik Monk drug the Hornets back into the game in the second period, scoring 20 straight points for Charlotte to help cut the deficit to just one point by halftime.

Then, the visitors opened up the second half with the first seven points to take the lead and grab control of the game. Finally, they relied on their continued excellence in clutch situations as LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges, Gordon Hayward and Monk all but four of the team’s points in the fourth quarter as Charlotte earned an improbable – another word associated with the team this year – win over the Suns, 124-121.

“This has been a microcosm of our season,” Borrego said. “We look like we’re down, we’re defeated, we’re out. We keep fighting, finding a way to fight back and compete. This team competes as hard as anybody in the league. I believe that. Tonight’s a great example against a fantastic Phoenix Suns team. That’s a heck of a team over there. Maybe the hottest team with Utah in the NBA.

“So, to come in here on the road to play this well, after being down 17, it’s just a credit to my guys in that locker room,” he continued. “They deserve the credit. They stuck with it. And Malik deserves a lot of credit (with) the way he handled himself to get to this point. His first half was impressive. He kept us in it with his scoring.

“But a lot of guys contributed to that, not just Malik. So, great team effort, but really proud of the group. Again, resiliency is the key for us.”

As the team’s top two leading scorers in Terry Rozier and Hayward struggled to 10-of-28 shooting on the night including 1-of-10 from 3-point territory, Monk and Ball stepped up in the big moments. Ball scored seven points in the fourth quarter and handed out a pair of assists as well.

“He’s a winner,” Borrego said of Ball. “He makes winning plays. I mean, that’s the best way I could put it. He makes winning plays. In the fourth quarter, he made plays on the offensive end, got to the rim, kick-outs, big shots, big free throws and then having those defensive moments whether it’s on the board, getting a steal. Those are all, to me, winning plays and that’s why he’s a winning player.

“He finds a way to impact the game throughout 48 minutes. But at times, he’s really at his best in the fourth quarter. He’s not fazed by the moment. He’s poised and I think our team feels that confidence, especially down the stretch.”

Leading by five with just over two minutes left, Ball sized up DeAndre Ayton after the Suns center was switched onto the rookie guard and blew by him for a dunk. The next time down the court, he did the same to Jae Crowder, this time finishing high off the glass to put the Hornets ahead 119-113 with 1:45 left.

“I think LaMelo is just an overall competitor,” Bismack Biyombo said. “It feels good when you’re around guys that also like to compete. Obviously, the rest of the guys are competitors but you feed off the energy of one another and I think he has done a good job leaning on all the guys around him and finding ways to help him. He has been making a lot of big plays down the stretch and has been able to help us win games.

“At the end of the day, this is all about a team. We all fight together, we win together, we lose together. So tonight, I think a lot of credit (goes) to my teammates for putting up a fight.”

The Hornets looked to have iced the game multiple times in the fourth quarter, first on a pair of free throws from Bridges to put the Hornets up 122-115 with 34 seconds left. A controversial four-point play that Borrego unsuccessfully challenged pulled Phoenix back within three points.

After Mikal Bridges split a pair of free throws with 6.9 seconds left, Hayward corralled the rebound and buried his two freebies to extend the lead to four points with 5.8 seconds left.

Ball would foul Chris Paul, who split his free throws as well, missing the second. Charlotte, though, offered Phoenix one last chance at a tie as they were unable to grab the rebound before knocking it out-of-bounds, allowing Booker a 3-point attempt with 1.2 seconds left that missed.

“We keep fighting, we keep competing, we never give in,” Biyombo said. “And at the end of the day, we learned from our mistakes last game, we corrected and we found a way to win the game. So I’m really happy for my team and I’m looking forward to the next game.”

The loss for Phoenix was just the third in the last 15 games and just the second home loss since Jan. 27 with the other coming against Brooklyn. For Charlotte, the win brings them to the familiar position of one game below .500. It also is another notch in their late-game execution belt. The Hornets remain first in the league in net rating in clutch situations by a mile as their net rating of 51.4 is well ahead of Philadelphia in second at 34.6 and more than double Orlando in third at 23.4.

Most importantly, it’s a win that moves them to seven in the Eastern Conference as they remain a serious fixture in the playoff race.

“Our team should be very proud of this one,” Borrego said. “Not comfortable or satisfied by this one but they should be proud. This is a tough, excellent basketball team they just beat on the road. They deserve the credit and they should feel proud and it should only validate what we’re doing in our program.

“Our player development, our offense, our defense, our identity, our culture. This is a defining win for us but this is not about being satisfied. We’ve got a lot of games to play. We can get a lot better throughout the season. They deserve the credit. I’m proud of them and they should be proud of themselves.”