Charles Lee Details Hornets’ Progress, Biggest Concerns Before Season Opener

The Charlotte Hornets finished the preseason 1-3 with Friday's 116-98 loss at Memphis. Across their final two exhibitions, they turned the ball over 54 times.

Wednesday's regular-season opener is at Barclays Center against the Brooklyn Nets, the team that beat Charlotte 124-90 in the Oct. 6 preseason opener at Spectrum Center.

Hornets coach Charles Lee's list of preseason progress starts on the defensive end, with more players in the right positions.

"I think that team is better than where we started," Lee said. "I think we made some progress in a lot of areas, starting defensively. I think that now we have a lot of guys that are in the right positions, and then now that we're in those right positions, our technique is getting better. How are we just more effective, how are we more impactful, either on the ball or off the ball? And so I think that our guys did a really good job throughout preseason defensive rebounding. We finished in that category really high. We finished in free throw attempt rate really high. So some of the fundamentals of how we play defense, I thought were pretty good, and we got better again."

"Offensively, a ton of cleanup areas, but overall I did think that our ball movement, our want to play together, got better and better every preseason game," Lee continued.

After Brooklyn's 124, Charlotte allowed 90 to the Milwaukee Bucks, 114 to the Boston Celtics, and 116 to the Memphis Grizzlies.

Memphis and Charlotte each grabbed 11 offensive rebounds Friday. On the defensive glass, the Grizzlies had 31 rebounds to the Hornets' 24, and they finished with a 42-35 edge on the boards.

Entering the Boston game, the Hornets were tied for second in the league this preseason at 16.5 made 3-pointers per game. They made 16 at TD Garden and 10 at FedExForum.

Boston outscored Charlotte 56-20 in the paint.

Kon Knueppel, Coby White, and Grant Williams did not play in any of the four games. Grayson Allen sat out games with a knee injury, and Christian Anderson Jr. sat out the first two games with a sprained ankle. Brandon Miller missed the opener with a shin contusion he suffered in practice.

On Oct. 14 at TD Garden, Charlotte committed 30 turnovers, and Boston scored 27 points off them.

Memphis turned 24 Hornets turnovers into 23 points two nights later. Charlotte had 14 turnovers in its 105-90 home win over Milwaukee on Oct. 11.

Running habits are on Lee's cleanup list.

"The biggest thing is no matter who is in the lineup, we have a certain way that we want to play," Lee explained. "And so I think that just from our running habits standpoint, some of our half-court execution, we've got to clean that up. I think that if we do those things, we'll put ourselves in better position to create better shots for one another. I think that some of the turnovers will go down when we're not playing as slow, we're not playing in crowds, we don't have some of the casual turnovers."

"And then there's some that you live with," Lee added. "If you're trying to throw a lob to a guy and it accidentally goes off his fingertips or something like that, or you see the seam pass and you make it and they get it. Sometimes you've got to give the credit to the defense. So I think that not every turnover is the same, and I think some of the execution things will also help us with the turnover rate."

Lee is in his third season in Charlotte. Before taking the job, he was an assistant on Boston's 2023-24 championship staff.

Last season ended with a loss to the Orlando Magic in the second Play-In game.

On June 25, Charlotte agreed to trade LaMelo Ball and Josh Green to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Naz Reid, a 2033 unprotected first-round pick, first-round pick swaps in 2028, 2029, and 2030, and three second-round picks.

Two days earlier, the Hornets had drafted Hannes Steinbach 14th overall and Anderson 18th.

Charlotte also traded Miles Bridges to the Phoenix Suns this offseason.

Before the road trip, Lee called the Hornets not a finished product.

Lee expects the Nets to have added layers on both ends since the first meeting.

"It definitely has a little bit of an impact," Lee said. "It'll be different. The intensity of the game goes up, how much longer those guys play during the game. I know Brooklyn's probably added layers to their offense and their defense. So it helps a little bit, but overall I think that we're going to have our hands full on the road versus a really good team."

Tip-off Wednesday is 7:30 p.m. ET.

The Hornets' home opener is Friday at Spectrum Center against the Atlanta Hawks.