Hornets snap six-game skid as Allen and Reid torch Cavaliers 124-112

A night the shots finally fell

The Charlotte Hornets had spent the past two weeks searching for a night like this one. On Monday at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, they found it. Grayson Allen scored 27 points, Naz Reid added 25 points and 13 rebounds, and the Hornets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 124-112 to snap a six-game losing streak and record their first win since October 26.

It was a victory built on the one thing that had deserted Charlotte all season: three-point shooting. The Hornets entered the night ranked second to last in the NBA from beyond the arc, shooting just 28.8 percent. Against Cleveland they made 23 of 46 three-point attempts, a 50 percent clip, and hit 12 of 24 from deep in the first half alone to build a 16-point lead by the break.

Allen set the tone early. He scored 20 of his 27 points in the first half, finishing 8 of 14 from the field, 6 of 12 from three-point range and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line, with six assists, four rebounds and two steals. Reid posted the game's only double-double with 25 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and two steals, including four three-pointers. Together, Allen and Reid combined for 32 of Charlotte's first 44 points, and with reserve Tidjane Salaun they accounted for 52 of the Hornets' 69 points before halftime.

The context made it more striking. Charlotte played without three starters: leading scorer Brandon Miller, out with a hip strain, Kon Knueppel, out with a hamstring injury, and Moussa Diabate, out with a quadriceps injury. The Hornets were also responding to a 39-point loss to the Boston Celtics in their previous outing. Instead of folding, a makeshift lineup produced its most complete offensive night of the season.

The middle quarters decided it

The opening quarter gave little hint of what was coming. Cleveland led 14-5 early, and the teams traded baskets before Charlotte edged ahead 29-28 after one quarter. Reid's step-back three-pointer with 58 seconds left in the period put the Hornets in front for good, and from there the home side took control.

The second quarter was the decisive stretch. Charlotte outscored Cleveland 40-25, turning a one-point game into a 69-53 halftime lead. Allen was the engine, but the support was everywhere: Salaun scored a season-high 14 points off the bench, and Ryan Kalkbrenner controlled the paint with 15 rebounds, 10 of them on the offensive glass, along with eight points and three blocks.

Charlotte stayed hot after the break. The Hornets outscored the Cavaliers 38-27 in the third quarter, and Sion James knocked down three key three-pointers as the lead ballooned to 33 points, 100-67, with 3:50 left in the period. By the end of three quarters Charlotte led 107-80, and the game looked finished.

Cleveland refused to accept that verdict. Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson played his reserves for the entire fourth quarter, and that group outscored Charlotte 32-17 in the final period. Rookie Meleek Thomas, Cleveland's leading scorer with 18 points off the bench, hit a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 118-110 with less than four minutes to play. But Kalkbrenner tipped in a missed Reid shot, and Royce O'Neale followed with a three-pointer from the right wing with 2:40 remaining to push the lead back to 13. Charlotte held on from there, closing out a 124-112 win.

The rebounding numbers told much of the story. Charlotte won the battle on the glass 49-32, and the Hornets' bench contributed 43 points. O'Neale finished with 10 points, James had 11, and starting guard Coby White added 10 points and eight assists.

What it means for both teams

For Charlotte, the win is a reminder of what this roster can do when its shooting cooperates. The Hornets had lost six in a row and carried a point differential of minus-75 through their first 11 games, so one night does not erase the problems. But beating a Cleveland team with championship ambitions, while missing three starters, is the kind of result that can steady a young group. The test now is whether the shooting travels: Charlotte begins a four-game road trip on Thursday against the Phoenix Suns.

For Cleveland, the defeat deepened an early-season worry. The Cavaliers shot 51.2 percent from the field and made 14 of 35 three-pointers, yet still lost by 12 because they were beaten so badly on the glass and from deep. Their starting lineup managed only 56 points in total. Donovan Mitchell scored 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting, his season low, James Harden also had 11, and Peyton Watson led the supporting cast with 13. Jarrett Allen added 12 points and a team-best seven rebounds, Thomas Bryant had 11 and Mario Hezonja 10, but Cleveland's starters never matched Charlotte's energy.

The loss was Cleveland's fourth in a five-game stretch, and it came at the start of a three-game road trip. The Cavaliers visit the New York Knicks on Wednesday night, and Atkinson will want a far better defensive response than the one his team produced in Charlotte. His decision to stay with his reserves for the whole fourth quarter, even after they trimmed the lead to single digits, suggested a coach already looking for combinations that work.

Charlotte, meanwhile, can enjoy a rare comfortable evening, with one warning attached: the Hornets scored only 17 points in the fourth quarter and watched a 33-point lead shrink to eight. Better teams will punish that kind of drift. But after six straight defeats, Charlotte finally has something to build on.