New York, New York - The Charlotte Hornets have made some franchise history against the Brooklyn Nets, who are having a hard time this season without one of their big three.

The Hornets won on the road against the Nets 111-95, improving to a perfect 3-0 for the first time in the team’s NBA history.

The Nets, on the other hand, were looking for a second-straight win in their home opener, after getting a big road victory over the Sixers.

Despite missing their controversial point guard Kyrie Irving (29), they came out strong in the first quarter with 31 points, but couldn’t keep up the momentum as the game progressed.

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In contrast, Charlotte got better quarter by quarter thanks in part to a defensive effort that seemed to easily take advantage of a fading Nets offense, holding Brooklyn to only 17 points in the fourth.

The Hornets were clearly the better team, as it often seemed that Nets superstar Kevin Durant was their only threat on the court.

The Hornets were led on Sunday by forward Miles Bridges who had a big game, not to be outdone by Durant’s game-high 38 points.

After Sunday’s game, Bridges has started to emerge as one of his team’s big point scorers.

This was his second 30-point game in three contests and nearly had a career day in points, missing his personal mark by one.

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Bridges finished the game 9-for-16 shooting, including 3-for-5 from three, 32 points, and nine rebounds.

The Hornets are still undefeated with a franchise-record start, having wrapped up a hugely satisfying first week of the regular season.

They just convincingly beat one of the East’s championship contenders and can improve on their perfect record through this next week of games that don’t seem to feature very tough teams. Charlotte are leading their division right now, so the time’s right for them to start pulling away from the southeast’s bottom-feeders.

Meanwhile, the Nets' off-court issues are threatening to overshadow any basketball that gets played at the Barclays Center, as Kyrie Irving's refusal to get vaccinated is attracting more and more unwanted attention. Protesters gathered at Brooklyn's arena before the match to chant against New York's vaccine mandate and in support of Irving, with some crossing the line into Covid denialism and worse.

On Monday, the Hornets host the Celtics, while the Nets look to bounce back in Brooklyn against the Wizards.