The Oklahoma City Thunder must have thought that Monday night would see a return to winning ways for them after Devin Booker snatched away a win from them the previous day. But LaMelo Ball and the Charlotte Hornets had other plans. Instead of rolling over for the reigning champions, the Hornets decided to blow out the Thunder at their own home floor, taking a 124-97 victory that left OKC scrambling for answers.
It was becoming apparent in the third quarter that the Thunder weren't going to be overturning a Hornets lead that was at 17 at the half. One shot from Ball, in particular, made it very clear that the basketball gods were smiling towards Charlotte. With the shot clock winding down with around 9:50 left in the third, Brandon Miller drove towards the hoop to try and beat the buzzer. He was then met by Chet Holmgren at the rim, and Miller lost control of the ball
The ball then found the hands of the Hornets' point guard, leading him towards the baseline out of bounds. Without much thought, Ball hoisted a one-footed, off-balance jumper that improbably went in, which extended Charlotte's lead to 19, 74-55.
Another look at this WILD shot from LaMelo Ball 👀
How do you do?!pic.twitter.com/XY8QcTylOw https://t.co/htfM6geNPl
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 6, 2026
Hornets take advantage of uncharacteristically poor Thunder performance
The Thunder's shots simply weren't falling on Monday on the second night of a back-to-back. 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 shot attempts on the night, including 19 makes from downtown. This helped Charlotte overcome their 21 turnovers on the night that OKC converted for 29 points on the other end.
The Hornets deserve a lot of credit for forcing plenty of tough shots from the Thunder, and they also deserve credit for pouncing on the opportunity that OKC gifted for them on a silver platter. But Thunder fans need not panic too much after an outlier game against underrated opposition.
