The Hornets pulled off another great basketball game tonight. Led until the start of the fourth quarter, the Hornets were able to count on a gala PJ Washington: 43 points including 22 in the last 12 minutes to ensure victory! Note the beautiful night of Théo Maledon, who scored 19 points… including the shot to put Charlotte in the lead.
Rain of career records tonight in Oklahoma City. In addition to the 43 points of a burning PJ Washington, the Thunder players did everything to win an important game in the context of the race for the Playoffs in the West. Josh Giddey and Jalen Williams both scored 31 points, while Isaiah Joe planted a triple career-high 33. A well-formed trio, which unfortunately did not have the last word once morest the Hornets determined to beat the heads of all the Western teams fighting for a place in the spring.
So it was in the fourth quarter that PJ Washington activated beast mode, planting 22 points with impressive offensive versatility. In the end, 43 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists at 14/26 shooting. Shooting from the parking lot on the face of the defender? Check. Power drive? Check. No, the guy was just too strong, nothing to do. And above all, he was always served with the right timing to optimize his chances of scoring. In particular by a Théo Maledon undoubtedly boosted by his second tenure of the season. 19 points and 9 assists for the Frenchmore than encouraging statistics for a boy who has alternated between the Hornets and the G League this season.
Theo smooth with it#LetsFly pic.twitter.com/A4CtIcXqpN
— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) March 29, 2023
At game level? A fantastic mano to mano, since if the Hive had a ten-point lead with a few minutes to go, the Éclairs did not give up. Luguentz Dort in the lead. The 7-0 run started in the last minutes by the locals is indeed due to the last man mentioned, who scored six points out of the seven to bring his team neck and neck. The game will be decided by free throwswith successive failures from Jalen Williams then Josh Giddey, before the Jalen in question missed the last chance 3-point shot to force overtime.
This defeat of the Thunder is already detrimental to the standings, since OKC slips to tenth place in the West, tied with Dallas! Imperative recovery once morest the Pistons, to avoid giving too much hope to the Mavericks who also bit the dust once morest the Hornets.
Source : ESPN