OKLAHOMA CITY -- With his team just on the receiving end of a thunderous Russell Westbrook dunk that the Oklahoma City Thunder star finished with a sneer toward the bench, Charlotte Hornets acting coach Stephen Silas went to work.

Silas, coaching in his fifth consecutive game as head coach Steve Clifford continues to deal with an undisclosed medical condition, tweaked both his rotation and what the Hornets were doing on the offensive end.

The result was an offensive explosion over the final six minutes of the third quarter that helped Charlotte pull off a 116-103 win Monday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

"We played at our pace tonight," Dwight Howard said. "We didn't allow Oklahoma to dictate how they wanted to play. We tried to play our game from beginning to end."

Howard finished with 23 points to lead the Hornets. Kemba Walker added 17 and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist 17.

Silas ticked off the names that made a difference in the 26-8 run to end the quarter -- Howard, Jeremy Lamb and Walker among them.

"I played those guys a little bit longer than usual just trying to hang on and hang on to the lead," Silas said. "That group that was in the game really stuck together on both ends of the floor. Russ is so tough. He puts so much pressure on your defense and he makes big plays. For us to come back and keep our composure and get the lead back up was definitely gratifying."

The win was just the Hornets second on the road this season.

"There are two ways you can go when you have a slow start -- you can either look down upon yourself and say I can't do it, it's too hard, or you can look in the mirror and say I want to get out of this," Howard said. "That's how we are feeling. Together, we can do something good."

Charlotte (10-16) snapped a three-game losing streak by earning just its second win in nine games.

The Thunder (12-14) failed at yet another attempt to crawl back to .500. Oklahoma City has lost three games with a chance to even its record since Nov. 15, when it was 7-7.

Westbrook finished with 30 points while Paul George added 20 for the Thunder.

Oklahoma City was just 9 of 26 from behind the 3-point line and 35 of 85 from the field overall. The Thunder moved the ball well at times but struggled to knock down open shots, most notably by starting guard Alex Abrines, who was just 2 of 7 from behind the arc.

"Crazy as this may sound, I really, really, really was excited about the way we played offense tonight," Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. "I really was."

Abrines' offensive struggles also highlighted his deficiencies on the defensive end, especially playing in place of injured defensive stopper Andre Roberson.

"We've got to do a better job and be more conscientious of not fouling in that situation," Donovan said.

During the Hornets' big third-quarter run, Abrines fouled twice on 3-pointers -- one leading to a four-point play by Treveon Graham. Charlotte hit four of its 11 3-pointers in the game during that stretch and the Hornets were 7 of 10 from behind the 3-point arc during their 40-point third quarter.

The Thunder missed its first seven shots after Westbrook's game-tying dunk and finished the third 1- for-10 in the final six minutes.

"That's who we are," Silas said of his team's defense down the stretch in that quarter. "We're not a team like them where they have a bunch of stars and you have guys who can just go win games for you. We have to do it as a group. Most of it, for us, is on the defensive end. We did that tonight and hopefully that'll carry on. Hopefully that'll be something that we use in future games and we play together on both ends of the floor."

NOTES: Hornets C Cody Zeller will undergo arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn medial meniscus in his left knee, the team announced before the game. Zeller is expected to miss at least six weeks. ... Thunder G Andre Roberson missed his first game of the season with a left ankle sprain. ... Charlotte's 40 third-quarter points represented the second-most points in a quarter on the road in team history. The Hornets scored 42 at Sacramento in January 2016. ... Charlotte's Nic Batum missed the game due to soreness in the left elbow he injured in the preseason.