The Oklahoma City Thunder had two separate chances at the free-throw line to tie a high-scoring affair against the Charlotte Hornets. Both occurred in the final 16 seconds with Jalen Williams and Josh Giddey.
Unfortunately, both split their trip.
The untimely misses served as appropriate anecdotes in what is the most frustrating loss of the Mark Daigneault era, as the Thunder blew a 13-point lead against a short-handed Hornets, 137-134.
To provide full context, here’s who the Hornets were without: LaMelo Ball (ankle surgery), Terry Rozier (foot discomfort), Gordon Hayward (thumb sprain), Mark Williams, Kelly Oubre Jr. (shoulder strain) and Dennis Smith Jr. (toe sprain).
After trailing by six points entering the final frame, the Hornets used a 44-35 fourth-quarter advantage to come away with the upset win.
“(Charlotte) did a great job of not getting knocked out and keeping the game in striking distance,” Daigneault said. “I was most disappointed in our defense — especially in the second half.”
The Hornets have now played spoiler for three consecutive games with two wins over the 11th-placed Dallas Mavericks and a win over the Thunder.
The Hornets only had eight players available and seven of them scored at least 11 points. P.J. Washington led the way with a career-high 43 points on 16-of-24 shooting and 5-of-9 shooting from 3. Washington helped close this win out with 22 fourth-quarter points.
“He did get hot. It wasn’t like we were giving him wide-open looks,” Giddey said about Washington. “… He made some tough shots but we just have to make some of these catches harder… Credit to him, he had a big night.”
Former Thunder guards Theo Maledon and Svi Mykhailiuk also helped get a win over their old squad. Maledon finished with 19 points and nine assists while Mykhailiuk had 18 points and eight assists.
This was a disappointing loss during a crucial stretch of the season for the Thunder. To give up 137 points in regulation against a Hornets team with just eight players available is frustrating.
Unlike the Portland Trail Blazers game where similar issues occurred, this game was not afforded the luxury of a win masquerading the lackluster defensive performance.
The Hornets shot 52-of-94 (55.3%) from the field and 14-of-35 (40%) from 3. The Thunder didn’t have an answer to protect the rim as the Hornets had 72 points inside of the paint on 36-of-55 (65.5%) shooting.
After the first quarter, the Hornets averaged 37 points a quarter…
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