Kelly Oubre Jr. #12 of the Charlotte Hornets brings the ball up court against the New Orleans Pelicans during their game at Spectrum Center on October 21, 2022 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images/AFP
Shorthanded Charlotte got a career-high 20 points and 11 rebounds from Nick Richards and the visiting Hornets beat Atlanta 126-109 on Sunday to hand the Hawks their first loss.
Richards was one of six players to score in double figures for the Hornets, who were playing without leading scorer Terry Rozier (right ankle sprain), Cody Martin (left quad soreness) and LaMelo Ball (left ankle sprain).
Charlotte trailed by 13 in the first quarter before taking control of the game. The Hornets also got 24 points and 10 rebounds from Kelly Oubre Jr., 18 points from Dennis Smith Jr., 12 points from both Gordon Hayward and PJ Washington and 10 from James Bouknight.
22 points for Kelly so far tonight đź’Ş @KELLYOUBREJR | @HornetsOnBally pic.twitter.com/JGXoAZAcRY
— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) October 23, 2022
Atlanta was led by Trae Young with 28 points and nine assists and Dejounte Murray with 19 points and eight rebounds. John Collins, who entered the game averaging 23.5 points, scored only 10 points and was 0-for-7 on 3-pointers. Atlanta made 22.9 percent of its 3-point shots (8-for-35).
The Hawks had a 12-0 run in the first quarter and Young, who had nine points, picked up his third foul with 2:36 left. Atlanta, which led by as many as 13, led 24-12 when Young had to leave the game.
Charlotte took advantage of Young’s absence, seizing the momentum and leading by 10 points when Oubre’s jumper gave them a 57-47 edge at 1:24 of the second. The Hornets led 59-55 at halftime.
The Hornets led by 18 when Oubre made a 3-pointer for an 80-62 lead. Atlanta went on a 9-0 run and cut the deficit to 80-71 on Young’s floater at 6:33 of the third, but the Hornets quickly bounced back and extended the lead to 20. Charlotte scored 45 points in the third quarter and took a 104-84 lead into the fourth quarter.
Atlanta begins a five-game road trip on Wednesday with the first of two games against Detroit. Charlotte makes the second stop of a three-game trip on Wednesday in New York.