FILE – Kelly Oubre Jr. #12 of the Charlotte Hornets celebrates a basket with Mark Williams #5 of the Charlotte Hornets during their game at Madison Square Garden on March 07, 2023 in New York City. Al Bello/Getty Images/AFP
Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 27 points and hit a key 3-point shot in the final minute as the visiting Charlotte Hornets ended the New York Knicks’ nine-game winning streak with Tuesday night’s 112-105 victory.
Terry Rozier had 25 points and Gordon Hayward poured in 23 points for the Hornets. PJ Washington’s 13 points were also boosts as Charlotte won for the first time in four games since losing point guard LaMelo Ball to a season-ending ankle injury.
RJ Barrett scored 17 of his 27 points in the first half for the Knicks, who had a letdown after winning Sunday night at Boston. Julius Randle scored 16 points, but he mostly struggled, shooting 5-for-17 from the field.
Immanuel Quickley and Mitchell Robinson both provided 14 points for New York, while teammate Quentin Grimes had 12 points.
Hayward’s three-point play with 2:59 left sent the Hornets to a 103-100 lead. Oubre’s third 3-pointer of the game opened a five-point edge with less than a minute to play.
Gordon GOT IT 💯 @gordonhayward | @HornetsOnBally pic.twitter.com/Ip39YkLdni
— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) March 8, 2023
Charlotte won despite receiving only 17 points from its reserves. Oubre shot 10-for-17 from the floor.
New York scored the first six points of the fourth quarter, while the Hornets didn’t have a point for almost four minutes of the quarter.
But the Knicks failed to build much of a lead and a 97-89 edge was trimmed. New York finished by shooting 42.7 percent from the field.
The teams were tied 21-21 through the first quarter before the Knicks unleashed a 45-point second quarter for a 66-50 halftime lead. Barrett had 17 points by the break.
But the Hornets showed quite a bit of spunk and actually took a brief lead late in the third quarter. The Knicks had a stretch when they managed to score just two points in a nearly five-minute stretch.
New York beat Charlotte in the first two meetings of the season.