The Charlotte Hornets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 124-112 on Monday at Spectrum Center, pulling away with a 40-point second quarter. Grayson Allen scored 27 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including 6 of 12 from three, to lead Charlotte.
The Hornets built their margin in the second period, outscoring Cleveland 40-25 to turn a tight game into a double-digit cushion. Naz Reid added 25 points and 13 rebounds off the bench, while Meleek Thomas led the Cavaliers with 18 points in a loss that dropped Cleveland to 5-6. Charlotte improved to 4-7.
Key Moments: How The Hornets Pulled Away
Cleveland led for most of the first quarter behind an early alley-oop dunk from Jarrett Allen off a James Harden feed and a 25-foot fadeaway from Donovan Mitchell. The Cavaliers built an 18-11 edge with 5:14 left in the opening period before Charlotte chipped away, tying the game at 26 on a Jarrett Allen reverse layup with 1:18 left. Naz Reid’s step-back three with 58.1 seconds left gave the Hornets their first lead at 29-26, a margin they carried into the second quarter.
The second period belonged to Charlotte. Grayson Allen hit back-to-back three-pointers, and Tidjane Salaun added a trio of threes plus a driving layup during a stretch that pushed the Hornets’ lead to 53-42 by the 6:47 mark. Charlotte’s 40-point quarter set the tone for the rest of the night, and the Hornets carried that momentum through a 38-point third quarter that built their largest lead of the game to 33 points, according to the official data.
Cleveland outscored Charlotte 32-17 in the fourth quarter, but the deficit was too large to overcome by that point.
Top Performers From Both Teams
Allen’s 27 points came with six assists and four rebounds in 34 minutes. Reid finished with 25 points, 13 rebounds and four assists in 32 minutes off the bench, shooting 10 of 26 from the field. Ryan Kalkbrenner recorded a double-double with 8 points and 15 rebounds, adding three blocks and 10 offensive boards. Coby White dished out nine assists to go with 10 points, and Sion James added 11 points with a plus-18 rating.
For Cleveland, Thomas led all scorers off the bench with 18 points. Jarrett Allen pulled down a team-high seven rebounds and scored 12 points, while James Harden posted a team-high five assists to go with 11 points. Peyton Watson added 13 points, and Donovan Mitchell finished with 11 points and four assists but shot just 4 of 11 from the field.
Charlotte out-rebounded Cleveland 49-32, including a 17-4 advantage on the offensive glass. The Hornets also shot 50% from three-point range on 46 attempts compared to Cleveland’s 40% clip on 35 tries.
What It Means
The win pushed Charlotte to 4-7 on the season, moving the Hornets to third place in the Southeast Standings, 2.5 games behind Atlanta. Charlotte also took a 1-0 lead in the season series against Cleveland, according to the official data.
The loss dropped the Cavaliers to 5-6 and extended their losing streak to two games. Cleveland sits second in the Central Standings, 2.5 games behind Detroit.
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