LaMelo Ball adds to the Thunder’s bad night with a crazy horse shot
The Oklahoma City Thunder must have thought they were going to get back to winning ways on Monday night after Devin Booker robbed them of a win the previous day. But LaMelo Ball and the Charlotte Hornets had other plans. Instead of rolling over the defending champions, the Hornets chose to blow the Thunder away on their home floor, winning 124-97 that left OKC scrambling for answers.
In the third quarter, it became apparent that the Thunder were not going to overturn the Hornets’ 17-point halftime lead. One shot from Ball, in particular, showed that it was the basketball gods were smiling on Charlotte. With the shot clock running out with about 9:50 left in the third, Brandon Miller drove to the hoop to try to beat the buzzer. Then he was met at the rim by Chet Holmgren, and Miller lost control of the ball
The ball then found its way into the hands of the Hornets point guard and took him toward the baseline out of bounds. Without much thought, Ball pulled up a one-legged, off-balance jumper probably enteredwhich increased the advantage of Charlotte to 19, 74-55.
Another look at this WILD shot from LaMelo Ball 👀
How are you?!pic.twitter.com/KSI8KcTilOv https://t.co/htfM6geNPl
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 6, 2026
The Hornets are taking advantage of the Thunder’s uncharacteristically poor performance
The Thunder’s shots just weren’t falling on Monday for the second night of back-to-back games. They shot 36.6 percent from the field, and 28.2 percent from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Hornets made 53 percent of their 77 attempts on the night, including 19 from downtown. This helped Charlotte overcome 21 turnovers on a night that OKC converted for 29 points on the other end.
The Hornets deserve a lot of credit for forcing a lot of tough shots on the Thunder, and they also deserve credit for taking advantage of the opportunity OKC handed them on a silver platter. But Thunder fans needn’t panic too much after an outstanding performance against underrated opposition.
2026-01-06 06:22:00
