For the second straight game, the Charlotte Hornets used a frantic rally to nearly steal a victory. Miles Bridges’ three-pointer with just under 10 seconds left tied Saturday’s game at 107 apiece, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s jumper with little more than a second left served as the game-winner as Oklahoma City earned a 109-107 win.
In their home opener, the Hornets started fast, led by LaMelo Ball’s nine-point first quarter. After building the lead to as large as 11 points in the first half, the Thunder flipped the script in the third quarter to take command of the game.
The lead reached 13 points on a banked-in three-pointer from George Hill with 2:11 left that seemed to be the dagger. As was the case on Wednesday at Cleveland, the Hornets saved their best for last.
Bridges caught fire from three in the final two minutes, burying a trio of long-range efforts to eventually tie the game at 107-107 with 9.7 seconds left. Gilgeous-Alexander, who missed a host of free throws down the stretch, atoned for his misses with a game-winning pull-up jumper with 1.4 left to give Oklahoma City the win.
