North Carolina sports didn’t have a ton of action on Thursday, but the things that did pertain to the region were all pretty positive. It wasn’t quite as good as when UNC won, the Charlotte Hornets won, and the Carolina Panthers nearly pulled off the biggest upset in recent NFL playoffs memory, but it was a pretty good day for the area once again.
North Carolina Sports Had a Good Day Again
There were only two North Carolina sports teams in action on Thursday night: the Charlotte Hornets and the Carolina Hurricanes. The Carolina Panthers are deep in the offseason, and UNC Basketball is facing Duke Basketball tomorrow night. It’s not the most hopping time of the year.
But the teams that did play won. The Hurricanes continued their excellent form ahead of the Milan Olympics break, as they shut out the New York Rangers. That’s significant given all the goalie issues this team has had, losing Pyotr Kochetkov and seeing Frederik Andersen struggle so much.
Andrei Svechnikov and Jordan Staal scored while breakout star Brandon Bussi was perfect in net, making 16 saves. The win pushed the Canes to 36-15-6. They are currently dominating the Metropolitan Division with 78 points, eight clear of the Pittsburgh Penguins. They’re tied for the most points in the Eastern Conference.
The real story, though, is the Charlotte Hornets. They’ve now won eight straight, tied for the longest winning streak in franchise history. They went into Houston and dominated the Rockets, holding them under 100 points, beating them by double-digits, and leading by as many as 22 while trailing by only one.
The Hornets are 9-1 in their last 10, and they have the second-best net rating in the NBA during that span. They are unfathomably hot. They have surged to 24-28 and now sit in the 10th spot in the East. They’d make the Play-In Tournament if the season ended today, and it’s hard to imagine the Orlando Magic, Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, or Miami Heat keeping them out or beating them.
They’re healthy and have seemingly figured out how best to manage everyone’s minutes to stay healthy, and they’re the best team in basketball right now. They have the longest win streak, and their starting five is 14-1 when they start the game.
The story of the night, though, might’ve been the Panthers. Deep in the offseason, not much is happening for them, except, however, for a good showing at the NFL Honors on Thursday night. No Panther won MVP or Coach of the Year, but Tetairoa McMillan won Offensive Rookie of the Year.
McMillan dominated his fellow rookies and won the award with relative ease. Here’s how the votes and points shook out:
- Tetairoa McMillan, Carolina: 445 points (41 first-place votes)
- Tyler Shough, New Orleans: 168 (5)
- TreVeyon Henderson, New England: 111 (1)
- Jaxson Dart, New York Giants: 88 (1)
- Emeka Egbuka, Tampa Bay: 66
No one even came close, and McMillan took home an astonishing 41 of the possible 48 first-place votes. That may not have even been the biggest outcome of the night for North Carolina sports, though. After a disappointing snub in his first year on the ballot, former Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly was enshrined after all.
He joined Roger Craig, Larry Fitzgerald, Drew Brees, and Adam Vinatieri in the loaded Pro Football Hall of Fame class. Kuechly is certainly the most accomplished Panthers player ever, with five first-team All-Pro nods (and the only two times he missed, he made second-team), seven Pro Bowls in seven seasons, and an insane resume of tackles in there.
Conclusion
Though only two North Carolina sports teams took their respective courts or ice last night, it was a great day for the state. The sports there are seemingly back on the rise, and if you’re not on the bandwagon now, you may want to hop on before it’s too late.
