Miles Bridges scored 25 points, youngster Vasilije Micic set career highs with 18 points and nine assists, and the new-look The Charlotte Hornets ended a 10-game losing streak with a 115-106 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night.
Brandon Miller scored 18 points, helping the Hornets win at home for the first time since January 19.
Micic, a 30-year-old Serbian who has largely played overseas, joined Tre Mann, Grant Williams, Davis Bertans, and Seth Curry in the Hornets’ rotation for the first time since Charlotte traded mainstays P.J. Washington to Dallas and Gordon Hayward to Oklahoma City on Thursday.
“I didn’t expect to play this much,” admitted Micic, who played 26 minutes off the bench. Hornets coach Steve Clifford praised Micic’s on-court awareness.
“All the stuff you can’t teach,” Clifford said. “He knows where everyone is on the floor. Obviously, he is an excellent passer and pick-and-roll player. And he’s big. He’s large. Some of those passes, other guys may notice, but they lack the ability to make the play.”
Williams, who played high school basketball in Charlotte alongside Curry, offered some much-needed physicality, finishing with 15 points and eight rebounds, while Mann had nine points and nine rebounds after getting the start.
Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 29 points for the Grizzlies. They’ve dropped eight in a row and played without seven injured players.
With so many new players on the Charlotte roster and minimal cohesiveness, the club has yet to practice together there was some uncertainty at times as players were unsure where they should be on the court.
That lack of continuity did not bode well for Bridges, who had two games with 40 or more points earlier in the week. Bridges tried only four shots in the first half and finished with six points – he was outscored by Bertans, who had nine.
Despite not having practiced together, the Hornets managed to record 30 assists.
Bridges found his stride in the second half, scoring 19 points.
He also made the huge play, swiping a pass in the backcourt and finishing with a high-flying, thunderous one-handed jam, giving Charlotte a 103-94 lead with about three minutes left.
Bridges later added a reverse layup, and Williams sank an open slam off Micic’s behind-the-head pass to extend the lead to 12 and all but seal the victory a few moments later.
“You want two things in this league: first, clever, high-IQ players. “I believe we added a lot of those,” Clifford said of the five recruits. “And then also I think there’s very much a veteran presence that they’re going to bring to our locker room.”
Memphis was also active at the trade deadline, moving Steven Adams, Xavier Tillman Sr., and David Roddy in separate transactions. Memphis’ new players on the roster, wing Lamar Stevens and forward Yuta Watanabe, did not play.
“It’s been fun to follow Yuta’s career during his time in Memphis,” said Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins. “I’m thrilled to have him back. He’s a utility player who can play the three and four positions, and he’s really competitive. Obviously, his shoots have improved significantly. “Lamar is still evaluating our wing crop.”
