CHARLOTTE, N.C. — LaMelo Ball scored 27 points as the Charlotte Hornets topped the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday in one of the team's best performances of the year.
Charlotte slipped to a 121-113 win over the Thunder in a game where both teams traded the lead throughout the night. Efficient shooting in the final minutes from the Hornets helped the team inch ahead.
The back-and-forth affair began with Charlotte taking an early 7-0 lead with a 3-pointer from Ball and shots from Mason Plumlee and P.J. Washington. Oklahoma City pushed back to make it a tight contest but the Hornets led 36-30 after the first quarter.
The Thunder flipped the script in the second quarter with another 30-point frame that left them up 60-57 at halftime.
Charlotte pressed on in the third quarter and slowly regained the lead in the third quarter to go up by just one point to enter the final period.
The score stayed close in the fourth quarter but 3-pointers from Ball, Washington, and Jalen McDaniels distanced the Hornets from the Thunder to give them an eight-point lead with just 30 seconds left in the game.
Oklahoma City was unable to overcome the deficit and fell 121-113.
Ball led the Hornets with 27 points against the Thunder. He earned a double-double with 10 rebounds but was one assist shy of his eighth-career triple-double. P.J. Washington followed Ball with 25 points. Mark Williams came off the bench to get his first career double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds.
Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a game-high 28 points. Luguentz Dort had 22 points and Josh Giddey had 21 points for the Thunder.
The Hornets finished with one of their best shooting efforts of the season. Charlotte shot 54% from the field, well above the team's 44.4% average that ranks last in the NBA.
Charlotte (10-26) stays at home for their next game against the Brooklyn Nets (23-12) on Saturday who is riding a 10-game winning streak. The Nets' winning stretch coincidentally began against the Hornets on Dec. 7.
Oklahoma City (15-20) returns home on Saturday to face the Philadelphia 76ers (20-13).