Brandon Miller’s return vs. Boston Celtics not enough to lift injury-ravaged Hornets

Things are always on the chilly side in Spectrum Center’s arena bowl, almost as if the building’s air conditioner thermostat is permanently stuck below 60 degrees.

But it was quite frosty in there Saturday night, seemingly enough for icicles to form. It wasn’t because of a broken temperature gauge or anything of that nature, though.

Instead, the atmosphere reached polar bear stage early on thanks to the Boston Celtics giving their former teammate the cold shoulder in the aftermath of that body check 24 hours prior. Grant Williams never got a fist bump or even a pat on the backside from old buddy Jayson Tatum and it’s clear a little animosity exists.

Sure, feelings may have subsided somewhat, but there was still a bit of tension in the air even if tempers never flared in the Charlotte Hornets’ 113-103 loss to the Celtics.

And not even Brandon Miller’s regular-season home debut could warm things up for the Hornets, who’ve dropped four of their last five games following their spirited victory in Houston to tip off the 2024-25 campaign.

So much for using the Celtics as a barometer in their mini two-game series. If anything, Boston showed the Hornets just how far they have to go in order to compete with the league’s elite teams on a nightly basis.

“Our spirits are still extremely high because I think that we draw a lot from the positives and learn from some of the growth opportunities that we had during the game,” coach Charles Lee said. “We faced a team that is very veteran, very physical. They had played together and had a little more cohesion, and we are throwing out different lineups here and there.

“And, again, not excuses. It’s just a different group going up against a battle-tested team. For me, I leave encouraged from what I saw. We had our chances throughout both games to play with a lead, tio win the game. … We’re doing some good things. We’ve just got to tighten up some of the minor details that we can control.”

At least having Miller in the mix again gave the Hornets (2-4) another solid option — and one more voice to help aid in a defensive effort that’s been lacking from all sides lately. His presence was sorely missed during the four games he was nursing a strained left glute.

“There was a play for Brandon in the second half where we’re just trying to get ourselves going defensively,” Lee said, “and he gathers the group together and just told them, ‘Hey, we’ve got to be tighter with our pick-and-roll coverage.’

“Not only is he moving a little bit better and feeling his way back into the game, but I think you need that type of competitive spirit on the floor, somebody who is not only going to lead by example but also vocally so that it’s not always having to come from the coach. I just think that he helps uplift our whole group.”

Being more of an on-court leader is quickly growing on Miller.

“Just more talk, that’s all,” said Miller, who posted 16 points, four rebounds and four assists in 31 minutes. “I think our young guys come in and just learn from the vets and that was one teaching moment there. We’ve just got to talk more on the defensive side.”

Getting off to a better start and not falling into huge first-half holes would help, too.

“We just came out slow,” LaMelo Ball said, “and tried to turn it up.”

Nick Richardson, Seth Curry hurting

While Miller was good to go, that wasn’t the case for Nick Richards and Seth Curry. Both sat out against the Celtics, with Curry being forced to take a seat nursing a right knee injury.

Richards, who’s been starting in place of the injured Mark Williams, is sidelined with a sore right shoulder suffered in the first half Friday night’s loss to the Celtics, causing him to sit out the second half. Grant Williams started in Richards’ place, and there’s no timetable for the big man’s return.

It sounds like he won’t be available in the immediate future.

“I don’t want to put it day to day or week to week, because I don’t want you to hold me to any of that stuff because I’m not in the medical profession,” Lee said. But I do know that he’s going to continue to get evaluated. When I talked to him (Friday) he was kind of struggling as I left the arena to get his hand above his head, so it was a pretty bad collision that he had with (Luke) Kornet and we’ll just keep evaluating him.”

Losing Richards is a big blow to a front line already thin without Williams, who’s yet to begin team drills and five-on-five scrimmaging. Richards was filling in admirably in the starting unit, becoming one of three players in the NBA this season to average at least 10 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks per game, joining Los Angeles Lakers’ star Anthony Davis and San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama.

“Nick has been a big part of what we’ve done these first five games. I’ve been very happy with him and his ability to kind of dominate the paint,” Lee said before the game against Boston. “He’s altered a lot of shots and I think he’s helping us with his pick-and-roll coverage and understanding the different gaps to be in in center field and create some indecision for ball handlers.

“He’s done a great job defensively, and then offensively, he’s created a ton of advantages for all of our scorers, all of our ball handlers. He’s one of our main guys that’s been one of those relentless offensive rebounders. It’s helped benefit him and also led to kickout threes for us, too. It’s an unfortunate loss.”

Tidjane Salaün’s growing pains

The second stint against the defending champs didn’t go as smoothly for Tidjane Salaün as his initial outing facing Boston. When the rookie’s first shot attempt — a corner 3-pointer — got blocked, it should’ve served as an omen.

Still, although Salaün failed to score in his 13 minutes of action, he’s still slowly picking up the small details, which was really on display Friday night when he tossed in a career-best nine points and six rebounds off the bench.

“The thing that I thought was great was his communication defensively,” Lee said. “We went to that switching lineup, (and) he did a great job of steering and also communicating. When you’re young and you’re unsure sometimes it’s like, ‘Do I run into screens or do I slip?’ And then all of a sudden now you are disconnected, and then that moment you felt indecision and you don’t say anything.

“Now we’ve got two on the ball. Or we’ve lost somebody to slip or our coverages are compromised. And I thought (Friday) he did a great job of just committing to what he was going to do, being decisive when he communicated.”

Offensively, Salaün is gaining confidence. He’s the youngest player in franchise history to make multiple 3-pointers in a game and the 16th-youngest player in NBA history with a trio of shots beyond the arc.

“We talked about it the whole preseason and training camp — the kid’s fearless,” Lee said.” His shooting stroke has really come along, so I was really happy with what he did on the floor.”