More Coverage: Game Gallery | James Borrego Postgame | Kelly Oubre Jr. Postgame | Gordon Hayward Postgame
Less than two hours after placing a fifth player – this time current starting point guard Ish Smith – into the NBA’s Health and Safety Protocols, the Charlotte Hornets were back at Spectrum Center on Monday night to begin a three-game homestand. Despite an unbelievably valiant effort by the hosts, the Philadelphia 76ers squeaked out a narrow 127-124 overtime victory.
Just like on Sunday evening in Atlanta, the Hornets were in another down-to-the-wire affair. After surrendering a go-ahead three-pointer with a minute left in regulation, Philadelphia tied the game at 119-119 over its next two trips down the floor, then missed a potential game-winner at the buzzer. Later on, in overtime, the 76ers pulled ahead by three with 1:10 remaining, before getting stops on the next three Charlotte possessions to seal the victory.
“When it’s your identity, it’s your identity,” said Head Coach James Borrego afterwards. “Nothing changes. Fantastic effort. I’m just so proud of them. As proud as I was of them last night, I’m even more proud of them tonight. To have more adversity thrown at us with another man down, take these guys to overtime, have a shot to win it, I couldn’t be prouder of the group. Their spirit, their resiliency, it’s who they are. It’s not going anywhere.”
Kelly Oubre Jr. had a team-high 35 points and four steals in the loss, with Miles Bridges and PJ Washington each adding another 16 points. Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid erupted for 43 points on 15-of-20 shooting, 15 rebounds and seven assists, all of which were team highs.
Another silver lining in the tough loss was the play of second-year big man Nick Richards (career-high 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting) and rookies James Bouknight (11 points) and JT Thor (8 points). Both Bouknight and Thor made their first career baskets and combined for almost 16 fourth-quarter minutes.
“Both (rookies) gave us great energy,” added Borrego. “This is why we drafted them. They look like players out there. They belonged on that court tonight and it’s only going to get better from here. Hopefully, that’s a boost of confidence for all of us, more so for them, that they can play at this level and play at a high level.”
The painful ending marked the Hornets’ 15th consecutive loss to the 76ers, a streak that dates all the way back to November 2016. Giving the debilitating circumstances with so many players out and no rest on the back-to-back, it can be an understandable challenge separating the loss from the fight and spirt that the team continues to show.
“It’s hard as an NBA player to have the moral victory and everything,” explained Gordon Hayward. “We still lost. I think we feel like we should have won that game, up three with under a minute left. They made the plays at the end and we didn’t. It’s still a loss. We’ll try and fix it and win next game.”
The Hornets will be back at Spectrum Center on Wednesday, Dec. 8 to face the Philadelphia 76ers once again starting at 7 PM ET.