Injuries are already piling up for the Charlotte Hornets. Is there reason for concern?

Before hitting the Spectrum Center court and beginning the next step on the Charlotte Hornets’ preseason push with a matchup against New York, coach Charles Lee broke down his expectations.

“Our goal is to just continue on this journey of being obsessed with daily improvement,” the rookie coach said. “We’ve talked a lot about not worrying who’s in front of us, but more so just looking at ourselves in the mirror and having the ability to reflect on what we want to accomplish as a team.

“I think our goals are just to continue to take more steps with our competitiveness, our togetherness, our open-mindedness to do different things on the offensive and the defensive end. It doesn’t matter who’s in front of us — coaches, Knicks — we will have the appropriate preparation for everyone. What we know at the end of the day is a lot about ourselves and the habits we’re trying to build right now.”

They’re going to have to do it without being at full strength, though.

Injuries are already piling up for the Hornets, who were short-handed in Sunday’s 111-109 preseason loss to the Knicks. They didn’t have the services of Mark Williams, Cody Martin, Grant Williams or Nick Smith Jr. against New York.

Grant Williams tweaked his right hamstring at the tail end of offseason workouts, but didn’t miss much of training camp. Mark Williams remains out after straining a tendon in his left foot during an offseason days before the start of training camp, and he’s on track to be re-evaluated on Thursday.

Martin has a sprained right wrist and thumb laceration suffered during the Hornets’ final training camp practice at Duke University on Friday, and is considered day-to-day. Smith strained his left groin strain at the end of camp and won’t be doing a whole lot until he’s re-evaluated in a week.

Don’t think Lee is ready to sound the alarm. Not at the moment, anyway.

“No concerns,” he said. “Everything seems like it’s minor injuries at the moment — some nicks, some bruises. Unfortunately, Grant is another guy that kind of tweaked his hamstring in the preseason, but he was a full participant in camp.

“There are no worries from my standpoint because a lot of these guys are following their return to play plans and it seems like they’re in a really good place.”

That describes how the Hornets’ brass probably feels after seeing LaMelo Ball back in action for the first time since a pesky ankle pain forced the Hornets’ star point guard to play in just 22 games last season. Ball looked his normal self, tossing in 18 points to go with seven assists and four rebounds in 18 minutes.

“Just listening to the coaches,” Ball said. “They want me to be a two-way, so I’m definitely trying to do that.

“Just trying to be that for this team this year and years on, so definitely just trying to lock in on the defense.”

It started from the opening tip, when Ball didn’t shy away from lining up opposite of the Knicks’ own star point guard, and it didn’t go unnoticed.

“He also took on the challenge of guarding Jalen Brunson at the beginning of the game,” Lee said. “We talked about this isn’t just a preseason game. This is a hell of an opportunity to get better and to play someone else. This is a playoff-caliber team and he took the responsibility. He wanted that matchup at the beginning of the game.

“And I just thought that you saw him refusing to be screened. Having multiple efforts if it was an off ball screen or denying Brunson the ball, and also being able to guard more people and being able to switch a little more. We’ve talked a lot about him embracing the individual pride and it was on display tonight.”

Overall, the Hornets had more than a few bright moments, including assisting on 11 of 12 first-quarter field goals and cashing in on their last eight shot attempts — five of which were from behind the 3-point arc. Tidjane Salaun also displayed a knack for knocking down shots beyond the arc, draining a trio of 3-pointers, and playing at the pace Lee has been longing for.

“It’s great, especially because he’s got to simplify his game,” Lee said. “It’s a process, how much you are going to take on a night-to-night basis, especially on the offensive end. When you are out there playing right now, you are going to be playing with Brandon (Miller) and Miles (Bridges) and some more veteran players.

“And so you have to be able to have really good consistent, efficient off-ball habits. And I think that he kind of settles into that tonight.”

In more ways than one.

“Holding his spacing,” Lee said. “He’s had a tendency in camp sometimes to slash too much or clog the paint. And he really trusted all the work that he’s put in and he found himself some good catch-and-shoot opportunities. And outside of the competitiveness, you saw more of his fearlessness and that is who he is.

“And that is why he’s going to be a game-changer for this organization.”

Taj Gibson shows his value

One of the first people off the bench? Taj Gibson.

The 39-year-old veteran center was summoned by Lee early, stepping up into the rotation with Williams still unavailable. Gibson brings a wealth of knowledge and can also be called on as an emergency option if need be.

He has a fan in Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, who’s excited to see Gibson extend his decorated career and get another shot at contributing the only way he knows how.

“It’s just terrific,” Thibodeau said. “Every team that he’s been on, he adds a lot in whatever role it is. He can start, he can come off the bench. He’s just a great veteran leader and upbeat guy. He’s always had great value to the team, unbelievable energy, great character, cares about winning.

“If you have a young player, you can’t have a better veteran to be around.”

Tre Mann is certainly enjoying Gibson’s presence.

“That’s Unc,” Mann said. “I mess with him. I call him Unc. But O.G., that’s his role. He’s one of the best in the league at it. That’s why he’s still playing. But yeah man, love Taj. He’s a great vet.”