Postgame Coverage: Game Gallery | Rozier Highlights | Coach Borrego | Miles Bridges | Terry Rozier | Cody Zeller
Carrying heavy hearts following the sudden death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant two days earlier, the Charlotte Hornets wiped away a rocky start and held on for a much-needed 97-92 home win over the New York Knicks on Tuesday, Jan. 28 at Spectrum Center.
Terry Rozier paved the way for Charlotte with a game-high 30 points on 9-of-17 shooting (4-of-8 from three) and a season-high 10 rebounds in the victory. This marked the first 30-point, 10-rebound game of Rozier’s NBA career and the first by any Hornet player so far this season.
Charlotte converted a 13-point second-quarter deficit into a 68-66 advantage heading into the fourth after holding the Knicks to just 16 points in third. The Hornets grew the lead to 88-79 with 2:07 remaining, then caught a huge break on a coach’s challenge that turned a possible four-point play for Marcus Morris Sr. into an offensive foul. New York hung around down the stretch, but Rozier calmly went 8-of-8 from the line over the final 40 seconds to seal the win.
“It’s been a rough couple of weeks for many reasons,” said Coach Borrego after the win. “Come back from Paris, it was a difficult game, obviously with Kobe’s death. I’m proud of our guys. They hung in there. We didn’t get off to a great start, but we hung in, showed some resiliency, stogetherness and we fought tonight and got a good win.”
Miles Bridges (15 points), Malik Monk (13), Willy Hernangómez (12) and Cody Zeller (10) rounded out Charlotte’s five double-figure scorers. Hernangómez and Zeller each grabbed 10 rebounds for their first and eighth double-doubles of the season, respectively, while Devonte’ Graham dished out a game-high 10 assists.
Julius Randle (24 points) and Morris Sr. (23) each recorded 20-point games for the Knicks, who lost for the fifth time in six meetings with the Hornets. Elfrid Payton flirted with a triple-double, racking up 10 points, eight rebounds and eight assists and Mitchell Robinson chipped in four points, 10 rebounds and a game-high five blocks off the bench.
Charlotte won the rebounding battle, 51-41, which included a near season-high 16 offensive rebounds leading to 14 second-chance points. The Hornets shot just 38.6% from the field, but went 21-of-27 from the free-throw line and assisted on 13 of 16 made shots in the second half.
Borrego added, “Obviously, we want to shoot better than 38.0%. Most nights, that’s going to be tough to win an NBA game. To gut it out and make those winning-type plays to get you through a game is impressive. There were a lot of hustle plays going on out there – 50-50 balls, offensive rebounds, loose balls, tipped balls. We just found a way to win tonight, bottom line.”
A two-game road trip will get underway on Thursday, Jan. 30 when the Hornets travel north to face the Washington Wizards starting at 7 PM EST. Catch the game on Fox Sports Southeast or listen in on WFNZ 610 AM/102.5 FM or the Hornets app.