After a debacle featuring a Draymond Green ejection in the final seconds, a Terry Rozier game-winning buzzer-beater sealed a nightmare loss for the Warriors in Charlotte.
With Steph Curry not feeling well leading to a late scratch on the second leg of a road back-to-back, the Golden State Warriors had to climb a deep uphill battle against the Charlotte Hornets.
However, Kelly Oubre Jr. stepped up to energize the Warriors without the two-time Most Valuable Player. Oubre Jr. notched a team-high 25 points on 9-of-19 shooting from the field with six rebounds and two steals in 37 minutes.
While Oubre Jr. helped pace Golden State throughout the contest, the game was decided with a debacle in the final seconds. After Oubre Jr. and Terry Rozier traded clutch triples, the Warriors led by two points with 42 seconds remaining. On the next possession, a scramble between LaMelo Ball and Brad Wanamaker was ruled a jump ball. After the tip, Gordon Hayward and Draymond Green battled for the loose ball.
Following a quick timeout on the scramble by Charlotte, Green was noticeably upset when Golden State didn’t receive possession of the ball. After losing his temper, Green received a pair of technical fouls leading to his ejection with nine seconds remaining. Green’s technicals gave Charlotte the chance to tie the game with a set of free throws.
After Rozier drilled the technical free throws to tie the game, Charlotte had the chance to steal the battle on the final possession. With time ticking down, Rozier hit a corner jumper at the buzzer to hand the Warriors a nightmare loss, 102-100.
Can’t close
After blowing a 13 point lead in the final minutes in Orlando on Friday, the Warriors had trouble closing with a lead for the second consecutive night. With a tie game to start the fourth quarter, the combination of Eric Paschall, Brad Wanamaker and Damion Lee helped push the Warriors to a 10 point advantage with 4:44 remaining in the fourth.
However, Terry Rozier got hot, while the Warriors’ offense went cold. Rozier scored 20 of his game-high 36 points in the fourth quarter to lead a Charlotte comeback. Rozier’s buzzer-beater will seal back-to-back blown fourth-quarter leads on Golden State’s four-game road swing.
Eric Paschall
With Steph Curry, James Wiseman and Kevon Looney sidelined, the Warriors needed to lean on Eric Paschall as a scorer in Charlotte. The NBA sophomore delivered against the Hornets.
Paschall led the Warriors off the bench with 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field with six boards and assists in 28 minutes. With Golden State thin in the frontcourt due to a bevy of injuries, the Warriors will need Paschall to keep attacking in Golden State’s second unit.
LaMelo Ball
In his first matchup against the Golden State Warriors, LaMelo Ball was quiet, tallying seven points on 3-of-10 shooting with seven assists in 31 minutes.
After a scoreless start, Ball picked things up in the second half. The 2020 No. 3 overall draft pick added all seven of his points with five assists in the contest’s final two quarters.
With Curry a late scratch and James Wiseman already sidelined with a sprained wrist, Ball will have to wait for his first battle with the two-time Most Valuable Player and a fellow top pick from the 2020 NBA draft.
