The Hornets blew out the Magic on their home floor, 124-97. It was a very fast start as LaMelo Ball reentered the starting lineup for Charlotte, giving 16 points, tonight. Brandon Miller had a team high 20.

There is a real culture change happening for the Charlotte Hornets even though they are still far away from where they need to be. Despite the 17-28 record, it might be the first time Hornet fans are really starting to feel something different in the air.

It seems like there's actual progress being made. The "rebuild" that has been sold year in and year out in Charlotte actually appears to be being built. Charles Lee deserves a lot of credit for that.

Coach Lee has taken a lot of flak from fans, whether it was for load managing LaMelo Ball or leaving some of the rookies in for longer in the fourth quarter to try and help them "learn how to win".

There's no better example of development that with Tidjane Salaun who had 13 points tonight. Since returning from his stint with the Greensboro Swarm at the beginning of December, he's had a real turn around in his output. He's developed into a really nice rotational piece for the Hornets and is still just 20 years old.

An interesting nugget to take from tonight is that Charlotte has become a really dangerous team on night number two of back to backs. There are 5 NBA teams who have as many as 6 wins on no rest and the Hornets are one of them. They are a team that has won 36% of their games overall, but they've won 67% of their back to backs.

"We won't be the biggest team every night, but we can be the most physical team, we can be the team that talks the most on the court, and just the more prepared team." according to Brandon Miller in his postgame on-court interview on Fan Duel Sports. That type of mentality might explain why the Hornets have been so good on these back to backs.

The Hornets will get one days rest before hosting the Washington Wizards whom they beat soundly in D.C. on December 23rd.