Hornets snap Knicks' 9-game win streak with 112-105 victory

Updated Mar. 7, 2023 11:02 p.m. ET

Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Needing two overtimes to get by Boston two nights earlier left the New York Knicks low on fuel when they returned home.

The Charlotte Hornets were happy to take advantage.

Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 27 points, Terry Rozier added 25 and the Hornets snapped the Knicks' nine-game winning streak with a 112-105 victory Tuesday night.

The Knicks managed 39 points and shot under 30% in the second half, getting outscored by 23.

“Just ran out of gas," All-Star Julius Randle said.

Gordon Hayward had 23 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, and made the tiebreaking basket with 1:50 remaining as the Hornets won for the first time in four games since point guard LaMelo Ball's broken ankle that required surgery.

They trailed by 16 at halftime and were still down nine midway through the fourth quarter before surging past a Knicks team that appeared to lack energy.

“I think at this point in time in the season everyone is tired,” Hayward said. “You’re going through it and games are every other night and they obviously had some emotional wins, too. That’s another part of fatigue, not just the physical but the mental and the emotional. So for us to win tonight was big for our team.”

RJ Barrett scored 27 points for the Knicks, who were trying for their first 10-game winning streak since winning 13 straight late in the 2012-13 season. Randle scored 16 points but shot just 5 for 17 from the field.

The Knicks, playing without starting point guard Jalen Brunson for a second straight game because of a sore left foot, scored 45 points in the second quarter but managed just 60 in the other three.

“We weren’t great in defensive transition and we didn’t fly around like we normally do,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said.

The Knicks shot 16 for 20 — 10 for 11 inside the arc — in the second, opening a 66-50 lead on Quentin Grimes' layup with 0.4 seconds left.

But Charlotte came back with 37 points in the third and a superior effort than the Knicks, outrebounding them 16-3. Rozier scored 13 points and the Hornets came all the way back to take the lead before Obi Toppin’s 3-pointer made it 89-87 heading to the fourth.

“We had been improving a lot offensively in that stretch and then LaMelo got hurt and we have struggled in the games without him,” Hornets coach Steve Clifford said, “and tonight I felt like we were a lot better. Our ball movement was better, we had more of a balanced offense.”

With Rozier resting to start the fourth, the Hornets managed just one basket by Hayward in the first half of the period and fell behind 98-89. But then they held the Knicks to just one basket during a gradual 14-2 surge that gave them a 103-100 edge on Hayward’s three-point play with 2:59 remaining.

New York tied it at 103 before Hayward scored, followed by Oubre's 3 that made it 108-103 with 58 seconds to play.

TIP-INS

Hornets: P.J. Washington scored 13 points. ... Clifford began his NBA coaching career as a Knicks assistant from 2000-03.

Knicks: Thibodeau said Brunson wasn't quite ready to play Tuesday but would travel with the team for their four-game West Coast trip that starts Thursday in Sacramento. ... Immanuel Quickley, who scored a career-high 38 in place of Brunson on Sunday, started again but shot 5 for 16 and scored 14 points.

UP NEXT

Hornets: At Detroit on Thursday night.

Knicks: At Sacramento on Thursday night.

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