Trailing by 21 midway through the second quarter, the Charlotte Hornets rallied, then rallied again to complete their largest come-from-behind victory of the season in a 115-109 home win over the visiting Indiana Pacers on Monday night at Spectrum Center.
Kelly Oubre Jr. led the victors with a game-high 28 points – a season-high-tying 19 in the first half – on 10-of-17 shooting, three rebounds and four steals, good for his sixth 25-point performance in nine appearances. Terry Rozier (23 points and a game-high nine assists) and Gordon Hayward (22 points) made it three Charlotte players with 20-point showings.
Indiana shot a blistering 75% and sank 13-of-16 free-throw attempts to take an early 40-22 lead after the opening 12 minutes of action. Charlotte found its footing in the second quarter, forcing seven turnovers to fuel a 51-28 halftime-spanning run that gave the team an 84-82 advantage with 2:50 remaining late in the third.
The Pacers would soon return the favor though, breaking open a 94-94 game with an 11-2 stretch in the middle of the fourth to go up by nine with 6:23 left on the game clock. Now needing a second, smaller comeback, the Hornets rose to the challenge again and closed the contest on a 19-4 surge, with Hayward either scoring or assisting on 12 of these points.
“I thought both our offense and defense in the second half was really good,” said Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford afterwards. “They were beating us down the floor, particularly in the first quarter. At least when you score – and they get the ball out quick and go – you can set your defense a little bit more, so I think that helped, too. They were really good early, and we were really bad. You could tell in the huddles, guys were talking, ‘Stay with it.’ We played better and better, so they were rewarded tonight, which is great.”
Added Oubre, “We never folded. They came out and were playing physical. They set the tone early. But we didn’t want to allow them to come in here and punk us on our home floor, so we just stayed with it and believed we could win. It’s good for us right now. It happens in the NBA – it’s a game of ebbs and flows, ups and downs. Right now, we’re a young team, so we’re learning how to win, how to sustain leads, and how to fight through adversity. I think a lot of that is a credit to [the Pacers] – they didn’t give up either. We just played harder.”
Nick Richards recorded his 11th double-double of the season, finishing with 14 points, a career-high 17 rebounds (six offensive) and two blocks, while PJ Washington was in double figures as well with 10 points. Indiana committed a whopping 22 turnovers – tied for the second most by a Charlotte opponent this season – that turned into 35 points for the hosts and shot just 36.4% in the second half (55.3% over the opening two quarters).
As for the Pacers’ players, Buddy Hield and Myles Turner each had 20 points, although the latter only scored five between the second and fourth quarters. Rookie Bennedict Mathurin returned from a four-game absence to tally 18 points and Isaiah Jackson notched his fifth double-double of the campaign with 12 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
Next up for the Hornets will be an all-road back-to-back starting with the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday, March 23 at 8 PM ET. Follow all the action on Bally Sports Southeast and WFNZ 92.7 FM.