Postgame Coverage: Game Gallery | Fashion Gallery | Rozier Highlights | Coach Borrego | PJ Washington
A huge run to close out the final few minutes helped the Charlotte Hornets end their six-game losing streak where it originally began as they held on for a 109-106 road win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday, Jan. 2 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Terry Rozier followed up his career-high 35-point performance in Cleveland on Dec. 18 with another 30 points, six rebounds and three assists in the victory. The Youngstown, OH native shot 11-of-22 from the field (6-of-12 from three), with 12 of his points coming in the fourth quarter alone.
After the Hornets pulled ahead, 82-79 with 2:35 remaining in the third, Cleveland uncorked a 19-6 run to go up by 10 halfway through the fourth, but Charlotte rallied to knot the score at 103-103 a few minutes later. Devonte’ Graham then drained a huge go-ahead triple and two free throws on consecutive possessions to put the Hornets up by five with just 10 seconds left.
Cedi Osman then combatted the 17-3 Charlotte run with another three-pointer to bring the Cavaliers back within two. After Rozier split a pair of freebies at the other end, Collin Sexton raced back down the court and got a great look, but drilled the heel of the rim on the potential game-tying shot just as the final buzzer sounded.
“We just kept believing,” said Rozier afterwards. “We came out, played with a chip on our shoulder, kept playing hard. That’s the team we want to be. We didn’t play our best basketball today, but we kept fighting and it worked out for us. I’m going to show out every time I come here in front of my loved ones. So, I had fun tonight.”
“Staying resilient, staying to it, not hanging our heads,” added Coach Borrego. “We just stuck with it. Shots weren’t falling. I thought we were getting good looks. We continued to defend tonight. Overall, we weren’t perfect, but we got stops down the stretch. Nine of our last 11 possessions were stops. Rebounds, big shots – you have to give our guys a ton of credit.”
Graham notched his 11th double-double of the season, finishing with 16 points (7-of-7 from the line) and a game-high 11 assists. Dwayne Bacon (15 points), PJ Washington (14 points) and Cody Zeller (11 points) rounded out Charlotte’s double-figure scorers. Marvin Williams had six points and two steals before exiting the game in the fourth quarter (nasal trauma).
Sexton (21 points), Kevin Love (18), Osman (17) Darius Garland (14) and John Henson (10) all scored at least 10 points for the hosts, who saw their three-game home-winning streak come to an end. Tristan Thompson chipped in six points and a game-high 11 rebounds as well.
Charlotte shot 44.6% from the field (51.4% in the second half) and had just 11 turnovers leading to 11 points for Cleveland. One of the best rebounding teams in the NBA, the Cavaliers barely won the glass, 42-39, and watched 15 giveaways become 20 points for the visiting purple and teal.
The Hornets will now wrap up their two-game road trip on Saturday, Jan. 4, when they take on the Dallas Mavericks starting at 8:30 PM EST at the American Airlines Center. Watch the game on Fox Sports Southeast or listen on WFNZ 610 AM/102.5 FM or the Hornets app.