National Basketball Association
Charlotte 113, Oklahoma City 102
When: 8:00 PM ET, Wednesday, April 7, 2021
Where: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Officials: #32 Marat Kogut, #37 Eric Dalen, #15 Zach Zarba
Attendance: N/A

Jalen McDaniels scored a career-high 21 points to lead the visiting Charlotte Hornets to a 113-102 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night.

McDaniels took advantage of his second career start as Hornets coach James Borrego tinkered with his starting lineup in search of more consistency on the offensive end.

Most of McDaniels' damage came in the third quarter, when he scored 12 of Charlotte's 29 points.

McDaniels hadn't scored more than 11 points in any of his first 40 NBA games over the past two seasons. He finished 9 of 14 from the floor.

The Hornets have alternated wins and losses over their past seven games. The Thunder have dropped four consecutive games and seven of their past eight.

Seven players scored in double figures for Charlotte, with Terry Rozier adding 17, Miles Bridges 16 with Devonte' Graham and Cody Zeller posting 15 each.

The Hornets scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to start to extend the lead, helping them improve to 21-0 when leading entering the fourth.

Charlotte turned up the heat defensively during that early stretch as it had in the opening stretch of the game, forcing three turnovers in the opening minute of the fourth.

The Thunder turned the ball over 22 times for the second time in three games, with the Hornets scoring 24 points off those turnovers.

Oklahoma City struggled offensively at the start, missing its first six shots and seven of its first eight. The Thunder also turned the ball over three times and missed their first four free throws as the Hornets jumped out to a 10-point lead less than five minutes in.

Then, Aleksej Pokusevski got hot, hitting three 3-pointers in less than two minutes.

Nearly half of the Thunder's scoring came from its two teenagers as Pokusevski and Theo Maledon each finished with 25 points.

Maledon scored 14 of his points in the fourth quarter and was 9 of 18 from the floor.

Pokusevski was 9 of 14 and 7 of 11 from behind the 3-point arc to set a Thunder rookie record for 3-pointers in a game.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Charlotte   Oklahoma City
Jalen McDaniels 21 Scoring Theo Maledon 25
Brad Wanamaker 6 Assists Kenrich Williams 9
Cody Zeller 14 Rebounds Moses Brown 10
P.J. Washington 4 Free Throws Made Jaylen Hoard 5
Devonte' Graham 3 Steals Kenrich Williams 3
P.J. Washington 3 Blocks Ty Jerome 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Charlotte 113 44.3 15-44 12-13 27 42 5 12 12
Oklahoma City 102 43.5 16-41 12-17 29 46 5 4 22
Upcoming Games
  • Oklahoma City will play their next game at home against Cleveland. The Thunder have a W/L % of .300 after a win and .452 after a loss.
  • Charlotte will play their next game on the road against Milwaukee. The Hornets have a W/L % of .480 after a win and .560 after a loss.