Grayson Allen’s 27 points and Naz Reid’s 25 points and 13 rebounds carried the Charlotte Hornets past the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers 124-112 to halt a six-game losing streak Monday night.
The Hornets received boosts from Tidjane Salaun and Royce O’Neale, who scored 14 and 10 points, respectively, as part of the team’s 43-point bench production.
Sion James had 11 points and Coby White posted 10 points and eight assists from the starting backcourt. Charlotte led by as many as 33 points, but had to tighten up down the stretch as it scored only 17 points in the fourth quarter.
It was largely a makeshift lineup for the Hornets, who’ve been battered by injuries and were without leading scorer Brandon Miller. He went out in the second quarter Friday night with groin tightness.
Charlotte’s startling 23-for-46 shooting on 3-pointers came from the team that entered Monday with the second-worst 3-point percentage in the NBA. Allen sank six of the 3s and Reid made four from long range.
Meleek Thomas led the Cavaliers with 18 points off the bench. Peyton Wilson posted 13 points, while Jarrett Allen provided 12 points and a team-best seven rebounds. James Harden, Donovan Mitchell and Thomas Bryant all had 11 points and Mario Hezonja added 10 points.
Ryan Kalkbrenner’s 15 rebounds helped the Hornets control the boards.
The Cavaliers mounted a comeback and pulled within 118-110 on Thomas’ 3-pointer with less than four minutes to play.
The Hornets regained control with Kalkbrenner tipping in Reid’s missed shot and O’Neale following with a 3-pointer.
Grayson Allen and Reid combined for 32 of Charlotte’s first 44 points. That aided the Hornets on the way to a 69-53 halftime lead, buoyed by a 40-point second quarter. That was quite a reversal from Cleveland’s early 14-5 edge.
