Charles Lee talks about their star brilliance and Charlotte’s defensive performance:

Charlotte Hornets They were unstoppable in the second half of tonight. Brandon Miller’s flurry in the third quarter set the stage for LaMelo Ball’s inevitable fourth quarter lead, and the Hornets defeated the Pacers in the final stretch. Their offensive brilliance was built on by the brave and relentless defensive efforts of the entire team, which had Charles Lee beaming with joy post-game. Here’s what Here’s what the Hornets head coach had to say: About the bummer of tonight’s 103-83.

“The first thing I was happy about was that we continued to play defense even though our offense probably wasn’t as good as it could have been or should have been. I think we have a good look on offense. I think in the past the team has allowed the offense to get to our emotional psyche and I thought we just continued to work through that and continue to trust each other and get stops. I think they scored 42, 44 points in the first half and we were still in the middle of the game. They go out, they run. Sports are games of run and momentum, and I thought we had a moment where we changed our coverage and guys turned it into a strike. I thought the level of effort, the level of communication and also the physicality had increased. “I thought the physicality on defense actually translated to offense, and we started to screen better and create more advantage.”

“It helps a lot when you get to the fourth quarter and in critical moments to know that you have that guy and he’s got a bunch of guys around him that can make the basket as well. I think he works very well with his teammates. I think you saw him being able to play some pick-and-roll plays with Brandon (Miller). Again, sometimes with the ball.” trust his ability to play, get off the ball and get down to the ground and make moves off the ball to try to get the defense off you, now you can get the ball back or tackle the next action I think his overall confidence in himself and his teammates comes through in the fourth quarter and we’ve got this guy and he’s going to help us all. “When we know it will happen, it becomes more contagious for all of us.”

“He definitely had an offensive explosion there. Once again, credit to the guys around him for being able to help him get open and get some shots. I thought we really couldn’t create any sort of qualifying advantage in the first half. We went into some pick-and-rolls thinking we could kind of play on the perimeter and hit the big guys, and then all of a sudden we thought they could facilitate or score or shoot the 3-pointer. Actually, we didn’t get as much as we wanted. I thought the ball was sticking a little bit and in the second half we went a little bit more off the ball stuff. He and ‘Melo worked really well together. …Brandon benefited from the help of his teammates, but in those moments when our offense was struggling a little bit, I think Brandon wanted the ball and wanted to help. I’m impressed that he has his own space today. …He found a way to get open shots.”

“I made sure to do this after the game… I talk a lot, so I talked about a lot of things, but one of the things I just finished was: ‘How do you impact winning without scoring?’ And he found a way to do it today. I’m very happy with his effort. Like you said, 15 rebounds, zero points and I think three or four big blocks, he wasn’t bogged down with the results, the stats and the scores tonight. He did a lot of the work and you need guys that are willing to embrace that role and he did a great job of that tonight.”

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