When I was thinking about what record to predict for the Charlotte Hornets on the eve of their 2021-22 season, my first thought wasn’t nice. It was instead a flashback to the Hornets’ ugly play-in game in May, when Charlotte got plastered, 144-117, by Indiana in a game that wasn’t that close.
As Charlotte forward Miles Bridges said of Indiana after that one mercifully ended: “They bullied us. There’s nothing else to say. Everyone watched the game. ... They played like they wanted to be in the playoffs and we didn’t. ... They whipped our a--.