Three and Seventeen

The regular season did not begin with a miracle. It began with missed corner threes, late rotations, and a scoreboard that told the truth without mercy. Charlotte lost opening night in Boston by thirty-one. They lost their home opener after leading for forty-three minutes. They lost in Miami when Marcus Reed slipped on a final possession and turned the ball over without getting a shot. They lost in Toronto, in Cleveland, in New York, and in a Sunday matinee so lifeless that the home broadcast filled dead air by discussing barbecue. By Thanksgiving the Hornets were 3-17. The ESPN graphic was almost elegant in its cruelty: DEAD LAST, NET RATING -11.8, ATTENDANCE 30TH, ODDS TO MAKE PLAYOFFS 0.3%.