More Coverage: Game Action Gallery | Head Coach James Borrego Postgame | Cody Zeller Postgame
The Charlotte Hornets kicked off another long, six-game road trip in winning fashion, knocking off the Washington Wizards, 114-104, for their fourth victory in five appearances on Tuesday night at Capital One Arena.
Gordon Hayward led the way for the visitors with 26 points (15 in the first quarter) on 9-of-19 shooting, a season-high 11 rebounds and six assists in the victory. This performance also marked Hayward’s second double-double of the season, the other coming at home against Utah Jazz back on Feb. 5.
Ahead by eight at the break, the Hornets continued their steady play throughout the third and entered the fourth still leading 89-81. Washington eventually drew to within three by the 4:12 mark, but Terry Rozier stepped up in clutch time yet again, scoring seven of Charlotte’s next nine points to give the team an insurmountable double-digit lead in the closing minutes.
“We just found a way tonight. It was not the prettiest game on both sides, but our guys stuck with it,” said Coach Borrego following the win. “We did it with our defense. We were not as crisp offensively, but I think our defense is only getting better. We mixed it up tonight, playing a little bit of zone and man. I think we disrupted them fairly well on the defensive end.”
He added, “I give Terry a lot of credit knocking down big shots down the stretch and I thought Gordon was really good offensively tonight. He was much more aggressive. Cody Zeller and Caleb Martin (seven points) off the bench, I thought those two guys really helped us get this win. Overall team win, team performance. I’m proud of their effort.”
Rozier finished the outing with 27 points, seven rebounds and four assists, good for a career-high-tying fifth straight 20-point game. Devonte’ Graham added 17 points, five rebounds, six assists and three steals and Zeller also recorded his fourth double-double of the campaign by racking up 16 points and a team-high 13 points in 24 reserve minutes.
Forward Rui Hachimura scored a career-high-tying 30 points in the Washington loss. Russell Westbrook tallied his third straight triple-double and NBA leading 17th of the season with 22 points, 15 rebounds and 14 assists, while Robin Lopez had his first double-double of the campaign by reaching season highs in both points (16 on 8-of-11 shooting) and rebounds (11).
Charlotte shot 47% and 41% from distance (14-of-34), while holding the Wizards to just 41% and 27% (10-of-37), respectively, in these two categories. The visitors committed one more turnover than Washington (14-13), but allowed just seven total points off those giveaways, while scoring 13 the other way.
The Hornets will now head north to Brooklyn to face the Nets for a 7:30 PM EST tipoff at the Barclays Center. This will be a nationally-televised broadcast for the Hornets with all the action available on TNT.