Charlotte Finally Holds Off Late Rally, Thanks to Pair of Last-Minute Defensive Stops
One of the highest-scoring preseason performances in recent franchise history helped the Charlotte Hornets notch a 117-115 home victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday evening.
PJ Washington, who absolutely exploded for a career-high 43 points in Oklahoma City this past March 28, picked up where he left off with a game-high 31 points on 13-of-18 shooting (5-of-8 3-point range), three rebounds and two assists in just 24 minutes. Washington’s point total is the highest by a Charlotte player in a preseason contest since Gerald Wallace had 34 against Atlanta way back on Oct. 18, 2007.
Holding a five-point lead at the break, the Hornets nearly doubled their advantage over the next 12 minutes by outscoring Oklahoma City, 31-26, while forcing seven turnovers in the third quarter. The cushion spiked to 16 early in the fourth, but Oklahoma City rallied to get within one with less than a minute to go. But that would be it for the visitors, as RJ Hunter beautifully contested a driving layup attempt by Aaron Wiggins and on the next Thunder possession, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl rolled an open potential game-tying layup right off the rim at the buzzer.
“More balance,” said Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford after the game, when asked about the third quarter. “The second quarter, we played good offense and no defense. In the third quarter, we were much better. [Oklahoma City] spreads you out. They’re five out and they’re playing skilled centers all the time. Obviously, PJ shot the ball from range well. The bigger thing to me is his talk on defense. He’s an organizer and has a great awareness on the court of what should happen. In the third quarter, I thought he was the one who kind of got the defense ramped up.”
Said Washington, “For me, I was just trying to get a rhythm, be aggressive and take good shots. Credit to my teammates for finding me in good spots. Just tried to make as many as possible. [In the first half], they were getting a lot of backdoors. We’ve just got to be better and talk on the defensive end. In the third quarter, everybody was more connected and ready for the backdoors and everything they came out with.”
Terry Rozier (19), LaMelo Ball (16; 12 coming in the second quarter) and Mark Williams (11) each also had double-digit scoring performances in the win. All five Charlotte starters, which included Brandon Miller (eight points, team-high-tying seven rebounds) for the second straight game, played at least 22 minutes and notched a +9 or better in the plus-minus category.
On the injury front, Bryce McGowens exited the game in the second quarter after re-rolling and spraining the same left ankle that caused him to miss the start of training camp earlier this month. Added Clifford, “He re-sprained his ankle. He’s got a boot on it now and I’m sure they’ll do an MRI on it probably tomorrow, and we’ll find out.”
Jaylin Williams and Tre Mann both had a team-high 18 points for Oklahoma City, with Wiggins right behind them in the scoring department at 16 points. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Jalen Williams, Luguentz Dort, Chet Holmgren, Kenrich Williams, Isaiah Joe, and Aleksej Pokuševski were all either rested or out with injury for the Thunder.
The Hornets will close out their preseason schedule against the Boston Celtics on Thursday, Oct. 19 beginning at 7 PM ET at Spectrum Center. Catch all the action on Bally Sports Southeast and WFNZ 92.7 FM.