Injured Charlotte Hornets lose to Atlanta in OT, 117-114

Now this was a preseason game. Put a starting five including Cody Zeller, Gary Neal, and Bismack Biyombo on the court for the Charlotte Hornets and see what happens. Stick Noah Vonleh out there for his first action of the preseason. Let Lance Stephenson, Al Jefferson, and Marvin Williams watch from the bench. That’s my kind of preseason basketball.

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Gary Neal did not disappoint either, going 21 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists. The Hornets were able to mount a second half comeback under his effort and similar efforts from his cohorts. Point guard Kemba Walker had 17 points, Brian Roberts had 14 points, guard PJ Hairston chipped in 11 more, forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had 10 points, and the Codysaurus had 18 points.

Speaking of the Codysaurus, Zeller did his damage while shooting 8 of 11 from the field. He had eight rebounds and five assists. This is the kind of effort the Hornets will need from Zeller early in the season when they are still bringing along Vonleh. Zeller will most likely be the third post and see most of the early backup minutes for Williams or Jefferson until Vonleh is ready. Vonleh wasn’t quite ready for now.

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Two players with big effort games in the loss were Biyombo and Hairston. Hairston’s athleticism is starting to show up in his defensive acumen and he is making less mistakes, according to Coach Steve Clifford. Biyombo grabbed ten boards and blocked three shots. He did get the start at center with all the other injury issues.

The Hornets were beaten by a Hawks team running its normal lineup. Forward Paul Millsap played big minutes for the Hawks. He finished with 21 points in almost forty minutes of action. Al Horford and Jeff Teague were limited to under twenty minutes of play, but guard Kyle Korver also played about forty minutes.

Oh yeah, the Hawks won. Preseason. Don’t care. Good effort. The Hornets finish off the preseason in Charlotte vs the Pacers on Thursday night.