By Sam Perley, hornets.com
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Result In undoubtedly the most exciting game of the season, the Hornets managed to edge out the visiting Utah Jazz late in double overtime with a 124-119 win on Monday, Jan. 18, in Charlotte. Leading the way for the Hornets was Kemba Walker, who put together a historic performance on Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a career-high and franchise-record 52 points in the Charlotte victory. Utah’s Gordon Hayward also put together a dynamic performance as he finished with a season-high 36 points for the Jazz in the loss.
Turning Points Trailing by three with 13 seconds left in regulation, Utah’s Trey Burke drained a game-tying three-point shot from the wing to draw even with Charlotte, which eventual sent the game into overtime after Kemba Walker missed a potential game-winner on the other end.
Fast-forwarding to late in the first overtime, Charlotte held a 108-103 lead with 15 seconds left before a Joe Ingles three-pointer cut the lead to two. The Hornets turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds pass, helping set up a game-tying dunk for Rudy Gobert via Gordon Hayward with seven seconds remaining. Once again, Walker was unable to get a long-distance three-pointer to drop on the other side, setting the stage for a second overtime.
Holding a two-point lead with under a minute remaining in double overtime, Cody Zeller ran down a big offensive rebound and was eventually fouled by Gobert, sending him to the line where he hit both free throws to go up, 118-114. After Burke hit a three-pointer on the other end, Zeller hit another pair of free throws to go up 120-117. The Jazz came up empty on its next possession and then fouled Walker, who knocked down another two shots from the line to put his total to 50 with three seconds remaining. Both teams would follow it up with another pair of made free throws in the closing moments, the last two of which were made by Walker, which sealed a Charlotte win and a new franchise-record of 52 points.
Inside the Box Score Kemba Walker led all scorers with a career-high and franchise-record 52 points. Walker also pulled down a team-high-tying nine rebounds and led the Hornets in both assists (eight) and steals (two)… Marvin Williams tallied a season-high 19 points and seven rebounds… Frank Kaminsky tacked on 17 points and seven rebounds… Williams and Kaminsky have both scored 10-or-more points in four of their last five games… Cody Zeller added 14 points and six rebounds… Nicolas Batum also scored in double figures with 10 points, a team-high-tying nine rebounds and four assists… Gordon Hayward scored a season-high 36 points to go along with five rebounds and a game-high nine assists for the Jazz… Trey Burke tallied 25 points, three rebounds and two assists off the bench… Rudy Gobert recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds… Trevor Booker (12 points) and Rodney Hood (11 points) also scored in double figures for Utah… Charlotte connected on 14-of-27 attempts from three-point range (51.9 percent) while the Jazz knocked down 15-of-45 shots from long distance (33.3 percent)… The Hornets outrebounded the Jazz, 50-49, although Utah held a 15-7 advantage in offensive boards… Charlotte had 16 total turnovers while Utah had just 10 total giveaways.
Hornets Player of the Game Kemba Walker put together the best performance of his career with a franchise-record 52 points on a career-high-tying 16-of-34 shooting (career-high-tying 6-of-11 from three-point range), a season-high-tying nine rebounds, eight assists and two steals in the double-overtime win. Walker’s performance was the third-highest scoring performance by any player in the NBA this season, trailing 53-point games by Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Chicago’s Jimmy Butler.
Jazz Player of the Game Gordon Hayward led Utah with a season-best 36 points to go along with five rebounds, a season-high-tying nine assists and two steals. Hayward, who was named a finalist for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team earlier in the day, finished just one point shy of tying his career high of 37 points set on Jan. 7, 2014 against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Game Notes Jeremy Lamb missed his third-straight game for the Hornets (toe)… Derrick Favors did not play for the Jazz (back)… This was also the 20th career game for Walker with 30-or-more points, passing Kelly Tripucka for fifth-most in franchise history… The previous franchise record for most points scored in a game was 48 set by Glen Rice on Mar. 6, 1997 against the Boston Celtics… Walker’s 52 points were also the most-ever scored on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in NBA history.
Next Up The Hornets will head west to play the Thunder at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 20 in Oklahoma City. This game can be seen on FOX Sports Southeast or heard on WFNZ or on the official Charlotte Hornets mobile app.
Cody Zeller Postgame Twinterview Following the win against the Utah Jazz, the Hornets Cody Zeller sat down to answer your Twitter questions for a post game “Twinterview”
