The arrival into a sure-to-be-electric sophomore season, for Brandon Miller, may have been short-lived; the airtime with which he ascended towards the rim beforehand, though? Ask the Houston Rockets’ rim protectors, and they can verify it as anything but. Tethering closely to his dynamic All-Star floor general during an early-offense set, Miller eventually elects to nest towards the court's left wing, blending in until his see-everything point guard commands the investment of Fred VanVleet’s attention. Suddenly presented with a highflyer’s favorite hypothetical — a running start to the cup, and late-arriving, out-of-position defenders helplessly in recovery — the Charlotte Hornets star puts the Rockets’ frontcourt in the backdrop of poster No. 1 of 2024-25 through a vicious flush. A glute strain would truncate Miller’s brilliance temporarily on October 23, 2024, though he entertained regardless through a six-point, one-rebound, one-assist, one-steal, one-triple contribution in just 11 minutes time. Down one-third of a trio that combined for 58.3 percent of its points a season ago, the Hornets, ever resilient, found a way to overcome Miller’s absence, surviving for a season-opening, come-from-behind victory nonetheless. · Oct 23, 2024