On Monday, the defending champion OKC Thunder were shocked when the Charlotte Hornets won 124-97.
In the process, the Hornets officially ended the Thunder's 45-game winning streak over teams with losing records, per ClutchPoints.
Afterwards, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault gave props to the Hornets, per Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman/Yahoo Sports.
“Credit to them,” Daigneault said. “They did a really good job of attacking us on the offensive end. They did a really good job of guarding us. They made the game hard on us and obviously outplayed us thoroughly for 48 minutes.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 21 points and six assists. Jalen Williams came away with 16 points along with four assists. Meanwhile, Chet Holmgren finished the game with 15 points as well as six rebounds.
However, the Thunder were without top rebounder Isaiah Hartenstein, who's battling a lower calf injury. As a result, the Thunder were outrebounded 52-33.
“Obviously, Hart is huge for us,” Holmgren said. “Everybody knows he's a monster on the glass. He's always been big for us in that department while he's been with us. I can't wait to have him back. He's doing everything he needs to do to take care of himself and get back to playing with us.
“But at the end of the day, it's less about attributing it to this or that. It's more about just being better in that area and getting it done.”
Additionally, the Hornets snapped the Thunder's 24-game winning streak against Eastern Conference opponents. Their last loss was on Jan. 8, 2025, against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The defense let the Thunder down.
A significant reason why the Thunder lost was their defense. However, it wasn't just against the Hornets; it was in their last twelve games. Over this stretch, the Thunder have gone 6-6.
In the process, they have given up an average of 117 points. Also, their opponents have shot 47.5% from the field and 41.6% from the three-point line.
Meanwhile, the Hornets were 53% from the field and 51% from beyond the arc. Also, OKC shot only 36.6% from the field and 28.2% from the three-point line.
“The reason we're a really good defense is because we take what you want to do (away),” Holmgren said. “You wake up out of bed in the morning and you say, ‘I want to do this tonight. I want to get to this. I want to shoot these shots.' And we take those away and force you to figure out the next thing. I feel like tonight we didn't do that. I feel like they were comfortable.”
Nevertheless, the Thunder are 30-7 and still have the best record in the NBA.
