Charlotte Takes Advantage of Sacramento’s 21 Turnovers and Game-Ending 17-4 Run
The Charlotte Hornets have had some miraculous finishes in Sacramento in recent years. Given how many key players were missing on Tuesday night, they might have to add their latest 111-104 road win over the Kings to the list, which finally ended an 11-game losing streak.
Terry Rozier returned from a one-game illness-related absence to lead the victors in scoring with a game-high 34 points – 14 coming in the fourth quarter – on 13-of-24 shooting, three rebounds, six assists and two blocks in over 36 minutes. Per Basketball Reference, Rozier’s 76 total points over his past two appearances are the most by a Charlotte player over a consecutive two-game span in the same season since Kemba Walker had 79 from April 1-3, 2019.
Both teams swapped sizeable first-quarter runs, though it was Sacramento that eventually entered halftime holding a 50-45 lead. Outside of a couple brief instances here and there, the Kings stayed out in front for nearly the entire second half and found themselves holding a 100-94 advantage with 3:54 remaining in the contest.
Rozier then ripped off Charlotte’s next nine points to cut the deficit down to just one. Following a missed 3-point attempt by Malik Monk, De’Aaron Fox lost track of PJ Washington on a backdoor-cutting dunk, putting the Hornets ahead, 105-104, at the 51-second mark. Moments later, Fox dribbled the ball off his foot, leading to a transition layup for Cody Martin. Sacramento got the ball over halfcourt on its next possession, but an errant Fox pull-up was gobbled up by Miles Bridges, who drained four free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
“When you lose, sometimes people don’t understand how frustrating it is for the players,” said Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford afterwards, when asked about the team snapping its long losing streak. “The guys put a lot into it, they’re professional players, they’re professional for a reason. To lose that many games in a row is difficult. Our guys hung in there, just kept playing hard. In the fourth quarter… obviously Terry was just incredible.”
Added Rozier in his postgame Bally Sports Southeast walk-off interview, “Most importantly, I’m just happy we came in after last night’s loss [in Denver]… and got the win. These past couple games, obviously we fell short, but we did a lot of great things and that’s what Coach kept talking about. Just picking up where we left off. We know it’s going to turn for us. Maybe this game is going to be the one that turns it around for us. Hopefully we can keep it going.”
Miles Bridges (27 points on 9-of-18 shooting) notched his fifth 20-point game in six appearances. PJ Washington added 17 points and went 3-of-6 from deep to pass both LaMelo Ball and Glen Rice for fifth place on the franchise’s all-time 3-point field goal leaderboard (510). In addition to Ball, Mark Williams, and Gordon Hayward all still being out, rookie sensation Brandon Miller was scratched shortly before tipoff with a left hip contusion.
Early foul trouble for Nick Richards and Nathan Mensah played a small part in the Hornets losing the glass, 48-35. Even though the Kings rode 15 offensive rebounds to a 20-point advantage in second-chance scoring (22-2), they gave a lot of that right back with 21 turnovers leading to 17 Charlotte points.
Despite the late miscues, Fox still finished with 30 points, 18 coming in the second half. Domantas Sabonis – who came into the game tied for second in the NBA with six triple-doubles – added a dubious 23-point, 19-rebound, career-high 11-turnover statline to his collection. According to Basketball Reference, he is the third opposing player in Hornets’ franchise history to record a double-double plus double-digit turnovers in a single game, joining James Harden (March 2020) and Yao Ming (December 2004).
The Hornets will now close out their season-long six-game road trip against the Chicago Bulls on Friday, Jan. 5 beginning at 8 PM ET. Follow all the action on Bally Sports Southeast and WFNZ 92.7 FM.
2024-01-02
Rozier Returns, Hornets Stun Kings With Late Surge To Halt Slide
Sam Perley, NBA.com/Hornets
Charlotte Takes Advantage of Sacramento’s 21 Turnovers and Game-Ending 17-4 Run
The Charlotte Hornets have had some miraculous finishes in Sacramento in recent years. Given how many key players were missing on Tuesday night, they might have to add their latest 111-104 road win over the Kings to the list, which finally ended an 11-game losing streak.
Terry Rozier returned from a one-game illness-related absence to lead the victors in scoring with a game-high 34 points – 14 coming in the fourth quarter – on 13-of-24 shooting, three rebounds, six assists and two blocks in over 36 minutes. Per Basketball Reference, Rozier’s 76 total points over his past two appearances are the most by a Charlotte player over a consecutive two-game span in the same season since Kemba Walker had 79 from April 1-3, 2019.
Both teams swapped sizeable first-quarter runs, though it was Sacramento that eventually entered halftime holding a 50-45 lead. Outside of a couple brief instances here and there, the Kings stayed out in front for nearly the entire second half and found themselves holding a 100-94 advantage with 3:54 remaining in the contest.
Rozier then ripped off Charlotte’s next nine points to cut the deficit down to just one. Following a missed 3-point attempt by Malik Monk, De’Aaron Fox lost track of PJ Washington on a backdoor-cutting dunk, putting the Hornets ahead, 105-104, at the 51-second mark. Moments later, Fox dribbled the ball off his foot, leading to a transition layup for Cody Martin. Sacramento got the ball over halfcourt on its next possession, but an errant Fox pull-up was gobbled up by Miles Bridges, who drained four free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
“When you lose, sometimes people don’t understand how frustrating it is for the players,” said Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford afterwards, when asked about the team snapping its long losing streak. “The guys put a lot into it, they’re professional players, they’re professional for a reason. To lose that many games in a row is difficult. Our guys hung in there, just kept playing hard. In the fourth quarter… obviously Terry was just incredible.”
Added Rozier in his postgame Bally Sports Southeast walk-off interview, “Most importantly, I’m just happy we came in after last night’s loss [in Denver]… and got the win. These past couple games, obviously we fell short, but we did a lot of great things and that’s what Coach kept talking about. Just picking up where we left off. We know it’s going to turn for us. Maybe this game is going to be the one that turns it around for us. Hopefully we can keep it going.”
Miles Bridges (27 points on 9-of-18 shooting) notched his fifth 20-point game in six appearances. PJ Washington added 17 points and went 3-of-6 from deep to pass both LaMelo Ball and Glen Rice for fifth place on the franchise’s all-time 3-point field goal leaderboard (510). In addition to Ball, Mark Williams, and Gordon Hayward all still being out, rookie sensation Brandon Miller was scratched shortly before tipoff with a left hip contusion.
Early foul trouble for Nick Richards and Nathan Mensah played a small part in the Hornets losing the glass, 48-35. Even though the Kings rode 15 offensive rebounds to a 20-point advantage in second-chance scoring (22-2), they gave a lot of that right back with 21 turnovers leading to 17 Charlotte points.
Despite the late miscues, Fox still finished with 30 points, 18 coming in the second half. Domantas Sabonis – who came into the game tied for second in the NBA with six triple-doubles – added a dubious 23-point, 19-rebound, career-high 11-turnover statline to his collection. According to Basketball Reference, he is the third opposing player in Hornets’ franchise history to record a double-double plus double-digit turnovers in a single game, joining James Harden (March 2020) and Yao Ming (December 2004).
The Hornets will now close out their season-long six-game road trip against the Chicago Bulls on Friday, Jan. 5 beginning at 8 PM ET. Follow all the action on Bally Sports Southeast and WFNZ 92.7 FM.