On top of winning the first game of their seasons, the best parts for the Atlanta Hawks and Charlotte Hornets might be that things can become much better.
The two teams meet Friday night in Charlotte, where the Hornets will play their home opener.
The Hornets opened by defeating the Brooklyn Nets 110-103 in New York on Wednesday night.
“Average, but that’s fine,” Charlotte coach Charles Lee said in describing what he witnessed. “It’s the first game of the season. There’s some situational things that we can continue to improve on and I know that we will.”
The Hornets are 1-0 for the sixth consecutive season. Charlotte newcomers Grayson Allen and Naz Reid were impressive with 21 and 20 points, respectively.
“Being out there competing at the highest level is always the fun part,” swingman Brandon Miller said. “Of course, we got the win on top of that, getting all the wrinkles and kinks out.”
The Hawks opened with a 132-125 victory over the host Magic in Orlando. They were propelled by Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s 31 points and 20 points apiece from Jalen Johnson and Dyson Daniels.
“Depth and versatility is something our guys need to embrace, and I think they have,” said Hawks coach Quin Snyder, noting concerns about foul trouble in the first game. “We got to be better.”
Defense is an area that will be addressed, Snyder said. Much of that is related to communication.
“It’s early in the year, so you’re going to have some of that … until your habits kind of come together,” he said.
Defense was on Lee’s mind for another reason after his team’s first game.
“No. 1, our defense,” Lee said. “We set a tone – that’s going to be our identity no matter what’s going on offensively. We want to really commit to that end of the floor.”
The Hornets played their opening game without guards Kon Knueppel (hamstring) and Coby White (calf). Forward Grant Williams (hamstring) also was out.
“The way that we fight against adversity,” Miller said. “That’s how we run. We focus on the controllables.”
The absence of some players might have accounted for the team’s uneven ballhandling. The Hornets committed 21 turnovers against the Nets.
“It wasn’t always pretty with 21 turnovers, but it was always competitive,” Lee said. “I thought the group was always together, which I love to see and then down the stretch, a ton of winning plays.”
Reid was a big offseason acquisition for the Hornets. He came to Charlotte in the deal that sent point guard LaMelo Ball to the Minnesota Timberwolves. He paid immediate dividends.
“I look forward to spending the season with him,” center Ryan Kalkbrenner said. “He’s going to be a great add to our team.”
For Atlanta, getting rookie Kingston Flemings in the flow will be one area to address. He went scoreless in 15 minutes in Orlando, missing all five of his shots from the field.
“The great thing about Kingston is he’ll absorb all that and he’ll watch it on film, and the next time he goes out, he’ll be mindful of it again,” Snyder said. “And he’s just going to keep getting better. You have to have experience to go through those things. And I just like the way that he competed.”
