The Charlotte Hornets came into action Monday night looking to earn their second straight victory after defeating the Chicago Bulls Saturday. However, they faced a difficult matchup to say the least, on the road against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
That said, Charlotte dominated the defending champs and put the league on notice. The Hornets outscored the Thunder by 17 points in the second and 11 points in the third quarter. Not only did Charlotte allow the fewest points that OKC has scored in a single quarter this season (17), they also handed the defending champs their biggest defeat of the year (27 points).
Brandon Miller led the way with 28 points on 7-for-10 shooting from three-point range. Kon Knueppel also starred, scoring 23 points on 5-for-7 shooting from beyond the arc.
Moussa Diabate returned from a wrist injury and provided a steady presence on the glass with nine points, 12 rebounds and five assists.
As a team, Charlotte shot lights out, finishing the night on over 50% shooting from the field and from three-point range.
Following the win, head coach Charles Lee seemed very satisfied with his team's performance. "I loved our level of physicality on both ends of the floor. We had purpose behind what we were doing. We were strong with the ball. We weren't complaining, expecting calls, whining (...) We knew tonight was gonna be a physical game," said Lee.
Although the Thunder were playing on the second-night of a back-to-back, Hornets fans have to be impressed by the victory. The win also broke an impressive OKC streak of 24 consecutive games won against Eastern Conference opponents.
With nearly everyone healthy excluding Ryan Kalkbrenner, Charlotte is showing what they can accomplish when at full strength.
Riding the high of a huge upset, the Hornets return to action Wednesday at home against the Toronto Raptors.
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