No LaMelo? No Terry Rozier? No big deal. What we learned in Hornets’ win at Atlanta

The doors hadn’t even popped open on the Charlotte Hornets’ charter buses yet Sunday afternoon and it was evident this wasn’t going to be a fun evening in the very place their season burned into a pile of ashes in April.

Missing three key players will do that, particularly when two-thirds of those absences represent the starting backcourt and feature their All-Star point guard and the team’s leading scorer. But Steve Clifford wasn’t about to tie a white pillowcase to a stick and start waiving it around in the moments leading up to tipoff against Atlanta at State Farm Arena.

“It’s hard, but I think it just gives other guys opportunities,” the Hornets coach said. “You can mix and match. And I’ll say this: You can always win in this league. This is what’s different to me with pro players, too. Even in college. When you’re down like our roster, could we beat them in a seven-game series? No.

“But can we win tonight? Yes, I mean that’s just the way it is. A guy gets hot. … The challenge in this league is playing well night after night. But all these guys are good enough to come out and have a good night. So you never know.”

Consider Clifford prescient. Riding the 13th-most points scored through three quarters in franchise history, the Hornets upended the Hawks 126-109 and silenced a sellout crowd that had little to cheer about in the second half other than getting free Chik-fil-a thanks to a pair of Gordon Hayward missed free throws.

“We didn’t win anything in the preseason, so we were just having to take everything day-by-day, game-by-game,” said Kelly Oubre, who led them with 24 points. “I hope that as a collective we don’t feel like we did anything special because we haven’t.

“But tonight it was just extra special because this is where our season ended last year, and obviously being a man down it was a bigger challenge for us to come in here and stay locked in and stay focused on the game plan. But super proud of coach, super proud of the guys for being ready and coach getting us ready and we executed.”

Here’s what we learned in Hornets’ second victory of the season:

Bouknight awakens

Suggesting it’s been a long week for James Bouknight would be a mild understatement.

Following his arrest for driving while impaired, which came on the heels of a rough preseason in which he struggled mightily, the second-year guard couldn’t get anything to fall in his first two games. He misfired on his initial 10 shots of season and clanked all seven 3-point attempts.

But it finally clicked for Bouknight against the Hawks.

Using a trip to the free-throw line to get himself going and score his first points of the season in the first quarter, Bouknight played well off the bench. He led the Hornets (2-1) with 10 points through halftime and finished with 10 points, two assists and a rebound in 18 minutes to cap a productive performance he needed badly to keep him in a good head space.

“I really feel like he’s getting there,” Clifford said. “I think he’s focused right know and I think he knows that he can play better. And again, on the other side of it he’s bit an inexperienced player. He hasn’t played a lot of minutes yet. He’s still young, he’s still trying to figure the NBA out. I like the player that he can become.”

DSJ more than OK

With the Hornets’ top two point guards out, Clifford turned to Dennis Smith Jr. and gave him the starting nod. And the Fayetteville native didn’t let him down.

Smith Jr. once again played under control and looked sharp. He efficiently ran the offense and totaled 18 points, six assists, three steals and two rebounds. But more impressively, he was clutch in the fourth quarter.

Smith Jr. accounted for 84.6% of the team’s points through the initial 8:26 of the fourth quarter, being directly responsible for four points, three assists and seven points created from assists to help the Hornets hold off the Hawks.

“He’s obviously a veteran, too,” Clifford said. “He’s only 25, but he’s a veteran player. … Dennis has been a big, big contributor in the season here early already.”

Richards still rolling along

Nick Richards is continuing to prove he can be a real force inside.

Coming off the bench behind starter Mason Plumlee, the third-year pro was a beast on the interior and gave the Hawks fits. He powered in 20 points and snatched 11 rebounds, picking up right where he left in his first two games when he came in averaging 12.5 points and eight rebounds.

Richards is pumping in 15 points and 8.6 rebounds per game, displaying just how much he’s improved this offseason. He’s taken the reserve backup center role and run with it, looking like an entirely different player.

“My teammates, they believe in me,” Richards said. “They give me the confidence every single day to push me to be my best. So really it’s my teammates (is) why I’m having success. When you have teammates that get on you for the right reasons …

“I started out slow in the first quarter and then I got my best when they were picking me up, telling me to get better, we need more energy out there. And I did my best. I’ve got to listen to them, so I just feel like it’s really my teammates why I’m having success right now.”

Jalen adapting to sixth-man role

Three games is a small sample size, but it’s become painfully obvious just how much Clifford values Jalen McDaniels.

McDaniels has been the first player Clifford points to off the bench, utilizing him as a sixth man. And McDaniels has quietly rewarded Clifford’s faith in him to get the job done. He was key for the Hornets in changing the tone of the game once he was inserted in the first quarter, relying on his length and 3-point shot to help them climb back into it after Atlanta raced out to a 13-point edge.

McDaniels wasn’t even aware he was going to be tabbed for such an important position prior to the season. But he’s flourishing in it so far despite Clifford not giving him much of a heads up before the action tipped off for real last week.

“Nah, he never talked to me about it,” McDaniels said. “It was just like, ‘When your name is called, just be ready.’ And that’s how I’ve been playing since I’ve got in the league. When your name is called, just be ready and show what you can do.”

Way too hands-on

Fouls were problematic for the Hornets in their loss to New Orleans two nights earlier, and they killed their momentum late in the fourth quarter once they trimmed the Pelicans’ game-long lead to two points with several calls for reaching in.

They didn’t do a great job of cleaning that up in their matchup with the Hawks, either.

Atlanta had 20 trips to the free-throw line in the first half alone, taking complete advantage of the Hornets being unable to keep their hands and fingers to themselves.

PJ Washington, Jalen McDaniels and Bouknight each collected three fouls and had to take their respective seats until the second half.

Things were better later in the game Sunday, but overall, the Hornets committed 24 fouls and sent Atlanta to the free-throw line 28 times.

“I feel like we didn’t slap down a lot and we were more disciplined in the second half,” McDaniels said. “And we took more pride on the ball. We weren’t getting beat just off one dribble and trying to recover and slap foul. We were just playing more solid.”

And heeding Clifford’s edict.

“ ’Please stop fouling’ were the three key words,” Clifford said in a hushed voice. “That’s it. ‘Please stop fouling.’ In that tone.”