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Brandon Miller · 17 lead changes and 18 ties perhaps most effectively narrated the story of November 6, 2024’s tango between two Eastern Conference up-and-comers focused on turning over a new leaf. Fortunately for the Charlotte Hornets, though, the final chapter was told through one trademark, nearly-unguardable signature: Brandon Miller’s rare ability to climb through the trees. Finding the Spectrum Center in a nearly-muted silence given its one-point deficit in the final 6.3 seconds, Miller, even on a play diagrammed for a teammate, makes himself heroic through a relentless rebound pursuit. Elusively juking himself free of Detroit’s boxout attempt — a nifty maneuver Miller attributed to his past as a football wide receiver — the second-year star hustles through the paint uncovered, using trademark hangtime to bank in a putback game-winner. Smoothly amending a turnover just prior, Miller’s marquee play tripled as his NBA career’s first-ever buzzer-beating game-winner, No. 1 of the NBA’s 2024-25 season, and, miraculously, the Hornets’ first since March 2019. Deserving of a celebratory “hum-diddly-dee” for his excellence, Miller provided a 19-point, six-rebound, four-assist, three-triple contribution in the early-season win over the Detroit Pistons. · State of Mint