CHARLOTTE — Miles Bridges made a go-ahead hook shot with 40 seconds left to play and Terry Rozier provided his own late-game heroics as the Charlotte Hornets snapped the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak on Sunday.
Rozier closed out the 106-102 home victory for Charlotte (8-7) by out-jumping Draymond Green in a decisive jump ball battle with 15 seconds on the clock. Three seconds later, the Hornet shooting guard added two free throws as his team handed the Warriors (11-2) their first regulation loss this season.
“We beat a hard-playing team. We wanted to make sure everyone comes in here and feels us,” Rozier said. “That team right there is the No. 1 defensive team in the league. They’re very physical, so we wanted to give the same thing back and we’re happy we pulled out the win.”
Six Hornets reached double figures in the scoring category as they defeated the league’s best team for their third consecutive win after suffering through a five-game skid.
Bridges led the way for Charlotte with 22 points and eight rebounds, while Rozier made up for a scoreless first half by finishing with 20 points in the final 21 minutes of the matchup.
Golden State small forward Andrew Wiggins led all scorers with 28 points and six rebounds.
Although he eventually cooled off after a 17-point first quarter where he connected on four 3-pointers, LaMelo Ball provided 21 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals in his 38 minutes of action.
“I feel like those shots starting off were right there, so I was just shooting them and they were going in,” Ball said. “So, the points came quick, and then after that, I got back in and it really wasn’t the scoring we needed. We needed ball movement, assists, rebounds and stuff, so I was trying to do anything to help the team win.”
With P.J. Washington out for his sixth game of the season due to a lingering elbow injury, Charlotte relied once again on Kelly Oubre Jr., Cody Martin and Jalen McDaniels to pick up his missing bench minutes.
Oubre had 10 points and four rebounds before he was ejected from the game after a double-technical. Martin added 12 points and eight rebounds.
Charlotte held Golden State to just 14 points in the fourth quarter as seven-time NBA All-Star Stephen Curry struggled to find a rhythm from the field — the point guard recorded 24 points in the contest but was just 7 of 22 from the field.
The Warriors made only 23.1% of their 3-point attempts (9 for 39), while the Hornets converted 38.9% of their long-range tries (14 for 36).
“We gave up a few too many offensive rebounds and second-chance points, but I thought our team was really locked in on Steph and they did a great job of giving him nothing easy,” Hornets coach James Borrego said. “I thought our effort defensively tonight was huge for us getting the win.”
The Hornets will look to extend their winning streak to four games on Wednesday when they face the Washington Wizards (9-3) at home.
