INDIANAPOLIS — Charlotte coach James Borrego gave a simple instruction to his players Wednesday night: Let it fly.
The Hornets didn’t disappoint. They scored 24 points, broke the franchise’s single game scoring record and had the highest total point total in the NBA with a 158 to 126 victory over the Toronto Raptors. Indiana Pacers.
“Tonight we sort of got into that zone in the 3rd quarter and we didn’t look up,” said Kelly Oubre Jr. scored a career high 39 points and made a career best 10 3-pointers. “We were not going for numbers today. We just wanted to be hard players.”
However, the numbers were amazing.
• Oubre was 12 of 18 from the field and only missed five 3s. He was the fifth player in league record books to hit 10 3s in a game from the bench.
• LaMelo BallHis fourth triple double of season was 29 points, 13 assists and ten rebounds. This tied the tie LeBron JamesThe third-most played by a player prior to turning 21 in league history.
• Per Elias Sports Bureau, Ball and Oubre became the sixth set of teammates in NBA history with a triple-double and 10 3s made in a game.
• In all, four Hornets players topped the 20-point mark as they tied a season-best from beyond the arc.
• And the Hornets scored 87 points in the second half, the most by any team after halftime since the Rockets scored 94 against the Nuggets on Jan. 10, 1991.
Charlotte broke a losing streak of two games and won a sweep of the injured Pacers. They eliminated the Hornets last season in the play-in round. The franchise’s NBA history record for most allowed points was 158.
Borrego was not surprised.
He said, “We were due to one of these games.” “We just got rolling. One guy after the other. It was a great offensive game tonight, and a great quarter defensively. That was what turned the game around.
The Pacers led by 17 points from Goga Bitdaze, and rookie Isaiah JacksonThey lost their third straight loss and the seventh of nine.
Indiana was unable to keep up with three starters and couldn’t see the end of it.
Charlotte opened the game scoring 12 of the 15 first-half points. At halftime, Charlotte was leading 71-70. With 4:18 remaining, the Hornets led 104-82 with a string of seven points. They then used a 13-2 spurt for a 104-82 lead.
They broke the franchise record, appropriately, with a 3 Miles BridgesWith 5:14 left, we coasted to our final buzzer.
Bitadze stated, “It happens. You’ve just got the to keep going and play harder like we did on West Coast.” “It’s hard. It’s not as if you will forget about it. You have to use it for motivation.
Information from ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press was used in this report.