Charles Lee provides positive update on LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges' status vs. Bulls

12/12/2024 12:19 PM

The Charlotte Hornets haven’t had the services of LaMelo Ball or Miles Bridges for the last few games due to injuries, but head coach Charles Lee provided great news at Charlotte’s recent practice.

“I would say both guys have reached the point of their return-to-play plan where they have introduced more group work or team setting work,” Lee said. “We’ll see how they show up tomorrow, evaluate them, and see how their bodies responded to that and kind of go from there.”

Both Ball and Bridges are integral pieces of the Hornets’ success, so this sounds like great news moving forward. Ball has missed his last few games with a calf strain while Bridges is nursing his knee issues.

What the Hornets have been missing in LaMelo Ball’s absence

Before sitting out the last few, LaMelo Ball played in the team’s first 18 games to start the season. Averaging a career-high 31 points per game, which is third in the NBA. He’s one of four guys to average at least 30 points per game, along with the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He’s played at an All-Star level so far, and he’s been a part of six of the seven Hornets’ wins.

Bridges has gotten off to a slow start scoring wise, since he’s averaging 16 points this season from his 21 points last season, but he’s doing the little things. Still guarding the opposing team’s better perimeter players, crashing the glass, and hitting catch and shoot threes. He still plays a vital role into where Charlotte wants to go, which is the playoffs.

Brandon Miller has been shining

Without his co-star in LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller has took it upon himself to be the lifeline of this offense. He’s had 11 straight games of at least 20 points or more. He’s averaging 27.5 points in that span and has even been nominated for a Eastern Conference Player of the Week twice so far this season.

He’s getting to his shooting pockets at will and has been keeping Charlotte in games even if it has resulted in a loss. Lee spoke about his workload without key players in the rotation.

“I think he’s had to shoulder a bigger responsibility with the injuries going on right now,” Lee said. “You can see teams are throwing multiple high quality defenders at him. Bringing an extra level of physicality, showing different coverages, he’s handled it well. Outside of his play his overall leadership and demeanor is just improving game by game.”

So when will the Hornets be whole again?

Realistically, barring no setbacks, they’re still a few weeks away. Ball and Bridges sound like they could be game time decisions this Friday against the Chicago Bulls or possibly suit up Monday at home against the Philadelphia 76ers. On the bright side, Mark Williams and Nick Richards have returned after a long hiatus, which is huge for what started as a hobbled front court to kickoff the season.

Charlotte hasn’t had their full deck of cards yet this season, but unfortunately a lot of teams in the NBA haven’t either. It’s a part of the business of sports. As Charlotte gets closer though, they might be able to make the bottom of the Eastern Conference interesting.

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