Brandon Miller answers a 2-of-14 night with 34 against the Heat: ‘It wasn’t our night’ on Friday

Brandon Miller needed less than 24 hours to change the conversation around his new contract. The Charlotte Hornets forward scored a game-high 34 points on Saturday, October 24, in a 115-110 win over the Miami Heat at Spectrum Center, one night after he managed six points in a 128-81 loss to Atlanta.

The swing is the story. On Friday, Miller went 2 of 14 from the floor and 1 of 11 from three in 22 minutes, finishing at minus-37 as the Hawks ran Charlotte out of its own home opener. He had agreed to a five-year, $209 million rookie-scale extension four days earlier. On Saturday he played 36 minutes, posted 34 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and finished plus-20, the best mark on the floor.

Points without the jumper

The shooting did not fully come back. Miller made 10 of 29 shots and 3 of 10 threes, so he found the rest at the line: 11 of 12 free throws, a career high for makes, according to the team. The league said 19 of his points came after halftime. The total matched the third-highest scoring game of his career.

Asked about the drives that earned those trips, Miller described a simpler approach. He said he wanted to see a few easy ones fall first and “try not to force it,” and that he tries to make the right play whatever the possession calls for.

The response, in his words

Miller spent most of his postgame session talking about the group rather than his line. Friday, he said, “wasn’t our night,” and the team came in Saturday with a different mindset. He credited the veterans around him, naming Naz Reid, Grayson Allen and Dennis Schröder, for keeping the room positive when a loss like that can leave a young team discouraged. He described the three as players who have been to the playoffs and know where Charlotte wants to go.

That support showed on the scoreboard. Schröder scored 25, Reid 23 and Allen 20, giving the Hornets four 20-point scorers. Miami erased a 23-point deficit and tied the game 104-104 with 3:45 left before Allen’s four-point play put Charlotte back in front for good. Miller said the message at the tie was to treat it as a new game, raise the physicality and cut out turnovers and bad possessions.

Three games in, his numbers still show the slow start: 19.3 points a game on 29.7 percent shooting and 20.0 percent from three, against 20.2 points and 38.3 percent from deep across 65 games last season. Saturday was the first sign of a way through it.

What comes next

The Hornets, now 2-1, close their three-game homestand against the Washington Wizards on Monday, October 26, at 7 p.m. ET. Miami, 0-3, hosts Dallas the same night.

Game Center: Wizards at Hornets · Heat at Hornets box score