Postgame Coverage: Game Gallery | Fashion Gallery | Rozier and Graham Highlights | Coach Borrego | Devonte' Graham | Marvin Williams
The Charlotte Hornets played a beautiful opening half of basketball, overcame a 40-point third quarter by the Mavericks, then rallied from 12 down in the fourth to force overtime and drained six clutch free throws down the stretch to claim a hard-fought 123-120 road win in Dallas on Saturday, Jan. 4.
Terry Rozier had 29 points and eight assists and backcourt mate Devonte’ Graham added another 27 points and a game-high 13 assists (nine in the first half) for his 12th double-double of the season and fifth in the last six outings. This marked the fifth time this season these two players have each recorded 20-point outings in the same contest.
Dallas erased a 20-point first-half deficit to eventually go ahead 94-82 with 9:09 remaining in regulation, but the Hornets returned the favor by rallying to tie the game on a Rozier driving bank shot with 19 seconds left. Luka Dončić missed a game-tying three at the other end, sending the affair to overtime.
After going back and forth in the extra frame, Rozier knocked down another clutch triple with 41.9 seconds remaining to put the Hornets up, 117-114. From this point, Dallas and Charlotte alternated two-point possessions with made free throws the rest of the way, as Miles Bridges, Rozier and Graham combined to go 6-of-6 from the stripe to ultimately run the clock out.
“Overall team effort,” said Hornets Head Coach James Borrego. “To me, this was about responding, resiliency and our guys just stayed the course. They didn’t hang their heads, they stuck together, they kept playing, showed discipline and stayed the course. I’m proud of our group. We kept fighting, even through that third quarter. He just stuck with it in the fourth.”
PJ Washington (19 points), Bridges (11), Bismack Biyombo (11) and Cody Zeller (10) scored in double figures as well for the Hornets. Biyombo also pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season and Bridges had 11 boards for his fourth career double-double and second in the three games.
Dončić notched his league-lead-extending 10th triple-double of the campaign, racking up a game-high 39 points on 14-of-32 shooting, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and two steals in the loss. Maxi Kleber (24 points), Dorian Finney-Smith (15), Seth Curry (12), Dwight Powell (11) and JJ Barea (11) rounded at the Mavericks’ double-digit scorers.
Charlotte finished the night shooting 49.4% from the field (44.0% from three-point range; 11-of-25), while Dallas scored just 19 points in the fourth quarter after tallying 40 in the third. The purple and teal also outrebounded the Mavericks by 12 (53-41) and tied a franchise record with 20 overtime points (done two other times; March 26, 2018 vs. Knicks and Jan. 28, 2011 at Golden State).
The Hornets will now return to Charlotte for a two-game homestand, which gets underway on Monday, Jan. 6 with a 7 PM EST tip-off against the Indiana Pacers. Watch the game on Fox Sports Southeast or listen on WFNZ 610 AM/102.5 FM or the Hornets app.