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One night after tying a franchise record for three-pointers made, the Charlotte Hornets had the tables completely turned the other way, then saw their late comeback attempt wiped away in a 146-143 overtime road loss to the Houston Rockets on Saturday evening.
Traveling for the second leg of a back-to-back against an idle-for-three-days Rockets squad, Charlotte fell behind by 16 in the first half before drawing to within two at the break. Houston continued to shoot lights out though, going back up by 17 early in the fourth before Charlotte battled back to tie the game late in regulation on a second-chance PJ Washington put-back with four seconds left.
Late in the overtime frame, Miles Bridges hit two free throws to cut Houston’s lead down to one with 30 seconds left, but Eric Gordon bumped the lead back to two at the other end after splitting two freebies. Charlotte responded by going for the go-ahead bucket, but Kelly Oubre Jr.’s three-pointer rimmed out, effectively sealing the Rockets’ victory.
“[Houston] was too comfortable early,” said Hornets Head Coach James Borrego afterwards. “They got where they wanted all night. Offensively, they just beat us downhill. This team normally makes 31 percent from three, they made 47 [percent] tonight. Give them credit. They made shots tonight. We could have been much better defensively. They didn’t feel us early on and in snowballed as the game went along.”
Terry Rozier led the way for Charlotte with a team-high 31 points and LaMelo Ball notched his second triple-double of the season, finishing with 19 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists. Houston center Christian Wood racked up 33 points on 13-of-19 shooting, 16 rebounds, three assists and two blocks in the win.
Houston connected on a season-best 23-of-49 three-point attempts (47%), which was also the most the Hornets have allowed in any game this season. Charlotte shot 20-of-40 from long distance itself (50%), marking the second time in franchise history the squad has drained 20+ three-pointers in consecutive games (Jan. 30 – Feb. 1, 2021).
This was just the Rockets’ third win of the season and they entered the night boasting the NBA’s worst offensive rating and third-lowest three-point percentage. This loss was just one of those times where anything can happen in a league where the unpredictable can often times be commonplace, especially with some weird scheduling quirks in play.
Added Borrego, “It’s a tough league. Back-to-backs are tough. Most teams go through this. We’ve had the toughest strength of schedule in the NBA. We’ve traveled more than anybody in the NBA. This has been a grind. We’ve had two straight days off one time this season. So, you’re going to have these moments. What I loved is this group continued to battle. We kept fighting, pushed it to overtime, had a chance to win it. It’s a long season. Nobody’s hanging their heads or feeling sorry for themselves. We’ll just keep growing and getting better.”
Next up for the Hornets will be a road game against the Chicago Bulls on Monday, Nov. 29 beginning at 8 PM ET at the United Center.