Hornets Lose a Heartbreaker to Cavaliers in Final Seconds

The Charlotte Hornets move to 28-25 on the season.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Charlotte Hornets got their four game homestand off to a heartbreaking start falling to the Cleveland Cavaliers 102-101 on Friday night.

As expected, Cavs big man Jarrett Allen had a dominating start to the game nearly notching a double-double in the first quarter alone with 13 points and nine rebounds. The Hornets could not keep Allen off the boards with Mason Plumlee on the floor as he tallied five offensive boards in the quarter. P.J. Washington changed some of that by crawling up into Allen more and continuously beat him to his spot for better positioning. If it weren't for Allen, the Cavaliers would have been down big early. The rest of the team shot a combined 3/15 from the floor. Terry Rozier had the hot hand early and led the Hornets with 10 points. 

In the second quarter it was Charlotte that really struggled to find the bottom of the net as they missed 12 of their first 13 shot from the field. Kelly Oubre Jr. and Terry Rozier hit back-to-back threes with a little over two minutes to go in the half, but that would be the final two shots they would make in the quarter. The Hornets had two possessions in the final 45 seconds to either tie the game or take the lead, but a pair of turnovers cost them. Cleveland took a 52-46 lead into the half.

After only playing five minutes in the second quarter due to a slight tweak in his knee, Allen was extremely active in the paint and on the glass, once again recording nine points and eleven rebounds in the third. Both teams clamped down on the defensive end for what was a very low-scoring quarter. The Hornets couldn't hit a shot from deep going 0/6 from three and also got a little sloppy with the ball at the end of the quarter. An 8-0 Cleveland run fueled by a pair of threes from Kevin Love helped the Cavs to a 76-65 lead heading into the fourth. 

LaMelo Ball drew a blocking foul in the first minute of the fourth, but Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff challenged the call and it was overturned to a charge, giving Ball his fifth foul of the night. Down 79-65, James Borrego couldn't afford to take his best player off the court despite being in foul trouble with nearly a full quarter left.

The Hornets went on a 13-3 run and kept finding ways to come up with stops on the defensive end of the floor. Cleveland's bench was assessed a technical foul as Ed Davis interfered with a three-point shot. The basket counted and Terry Rozier hit the technical free throw to make it a 90-84 game. The three-pointers continued to fall with P.J. Washington hitting back-to-back threes to tie the game. Kelly Oubre Jr. hit another in the corner to give the Hornets a three point lead with 46 seconds left. Jarrett Allen brought it back to within one with a tip in from a couple feet away. On the Hornets next trip up the floor, Terry Rozier missed a three and the officials missed a clear loose ball foul on the Cavaliers. However, they called a foul on Gordon Hayward with 1.2 seconds left as Kevin Love attempted to go up for a shot with his back to the basket. Love hit both shots to give Cleveland a one-point lead which would be the game winner after Charlotte failed to convert the ally-oop attempt at the sound of the final buzzer.

The Hornets will be back at it tomorrow night inside Spectrum Center as they take on the Miami Heat. Tip is set for 7 p.m. EST. 

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