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Charlotte Hornets' head coach Charles Lee discusses how his team has attacked their four-day respite

A mid-week update on the Hornets' time off.

Matt Alquiza

Sam Sharpe-Imagn Images
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The NBA regular season is one heck of a grind. The Charlotte Hornets are just over a quarter of the way through their nearly seven month non-stop sprint of a schedule that came to a screeching halt this week. After the Hornets failed to advance in the 2024 Emirates NBA Cup, they were handed four days off from playing games, a respite for an injury-riddled squad that desperately needed a moment to catch their collective breath.

The four-day break is the longest of the early season for Charles Lee's squad, and he detailed how his franchise has spent this brief intermission, and how much he has enjoyed this stretch of internal work.

"I love these practice days where we really can just focus on ourselves and look in the mirror. Where we are statistically? What is the eye test telling me about where or defense is or our offense? We love these days, we love our vitamins. We get to come in and the coaches get their one-on-one attention with the players before practice."

The work is important, but these days don't come without some R&R too. In Charlotte's last contest, a win against the Indiana Pacers, their injury report read like a CVS receipt. LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges and Tre Mann continued to miss time, and they were joined on the bench by Moussa Diabaté, Mark Williams, and Tidjane Salaün.

"We've taken full advantage (of this time off) while trying to find the balance of freshening the guys up, coming off a back-to-back and as many games as we've played. We've played a lot of guys a lot of minutes and had some injuries too, so we have to be mindful of 'how are we going to be the most productive and maximize this time.'"

The Hornets will be back in action on Friday night at the United Center when they take on Zach LaVine, Coby White, and the 10-15 Chicago Bulls.

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Matt Alquiza
MATT ALQUIZA

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