Trailing by three with under a minute to play, Trae Young saw an opportunity to tie the game. Mark Williams viewed things differently. The Charlotte Hornets rookie center came up clutch on both ends, first using his lengthy wingspan to drift out to the 3-point line to block Young’s step-back triple. LaMelo Ball turned the deflection into a touch pass to Williams and the 15th overall pick did the rest, needing just two dribbles to traverse the court before sidestepping his lone defender for a point-blank conversion. The huge sequence was the cherry on top of a great night for Williams, who finished with 15 points, five rebounds, two steals and two blocks in his squad’s 144-138 win over the Atlanta Hawks on February 13, 2023. Across 43 games in 2022-23, Williams positioned himself as a key member of the Hornets future after averaging 9.0 points and 7.1 rebounds per contest. · Feb 14, 2023