BY: KRISTY GONOWON – SPORTS ON AIR USA CORRESPONDENT
12-28-2024
CHARLOTTE On Saturday night, the Charlotte Hornets hosted the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Spectrum Center on Buzz City Kids Day, which featured appearances by several of the local mascots including the Hornets’ Hugo, the Carolina Panthers’ Sir Purr, Norm the ‘Niner from UNC-Charlotte, Lug Nut from the Charlotte Motor Speedway, Sir Minty from the Charlotte FC, and the Charlotte Checkers’ Chubby.
The Hornets had a sluggish start as they let the Thunder go on a 7-0 run, to which the Hornets did not respond until the 8:33 mark when the Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander committed a shooting foul, allowing Mark Williams to make two free throws for the Hornets.
The first quarter ended with a huge 26-foot three-point jumper by Hornets’ Tidjane Salaün with 1.1 seconds left. The Hornets trailed, 28-22.
The second quarter opened with the Thunder’s Ajay Mitchell knocking down a 10-foot jumper, but the Hornets’ Miles Bridges answered with a 26-foot 3-pointer off an Isiah Wong assist.
The Hornets pulled within three at 8:06 when Vasilije Micic made a 3-point jumper off a Bridges assist, 36-33. However, the Hornets entered halftime down 61-46, off two Salaün free throws and a buzzer-beater 3-pointer by Thunder Aaron Wiggins off a Jaylin Williams assist.
After a pair of free throws by Wong in the third quarter, the Hornets’ DaQuan Jeffries ignited the Charlotte crowd by sinking a huge 3-point jumper.
The Thunder’s Jaylen Williams committed a hard shooting foul on Miles Bridges, sending him to the line to hit two free throws. Then Bridges lit up the home crowd again by dunking with 30 seconds left in the quarter, while Jeffries made a 16-foot step back jumpshot with 4.1 seconds left. The quarter ended with the Thunder leading, 90-74.
The Hornets opened the fourth quarter with a huge dunk by Mark Williams off a Bridges assist, 90-76. Later, when Micic drilled a 25-foot three-pointer after a Salaün defensive rebound with 10:12 left, the Thunder called a timeout to regroup, 92-81.
The Hornets hustled hard in the final quarter but could not overcome the early deficit, falling to the Thunder, 106-94. The difference in performance came down to field goals, as the Thunder made 42 of 88 from the field at 47.7%, while the Hornets made 29 of 80 at 36.3%. This was punctuated by the number of points in the paint, with the Thunder collecting 56 points to the Hornets’ 28 points.
The Thunder are back home in Oklahoma City to host the Memphis Grizzlies tomorrow (Sunday), while the Hornets get a day of rest before hosting the Chicago Bulls on Monday.
