Recap: Kelly Oubre has historic fourth quarter, Hornets blow out Pistons, 140-111

Kelly Oubre scored 24 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter by hitting a franchise record eight 3-pointers in the quarter as the Charlotte Hornets defeated the Detroit Pistons behind a franchise record 24 3-pointers, 140-111.

The Hornets came out of the gate firing. Miles Bridges scored 11 first quarter points as the Hornets hit seven of their first 11 3-point attempts. It took just over five minutes to get a double digit lead. The Pistons would briefly cut into that, but the Hornets went on a run to close the quarter with a 37-19 lead.

The Hornets built their lead as large as 26 early in the second quarter as they stayed hot from three. The shooting dried up a bit and let the Pistons go on a run. They scored ten straight to pull the deficit within 16, but Gordon Hayward, as he is wont to do, hit a jumper to stop the bleeding. The Hornets stabilized their play from there as the Hornets lead fluctuated between the mid teens and low 20s. PJ Washington joined Miles Bridges in double figures by being very aggressive and getting to the line, even though he struggled to convert there. At the half, the Hornets led by 14.

The teams traded baskets to start the third quarter as the Hornets slowly built their lead back above 20. The Hornets seemed to let their guard down during the ensuing Pistons timeout and let the Pistons waltz down the lane for three straight easy lay-ins. A Cade Cunningham 3-pointer pulled the Pistons within 13 with 4:20 left in the third, and that would be the last point they would score in the quarter. The Hornets went on a 12-0 run that featured several missed bunnies by the Pistons. After three, the Hornets led 100-75.

Normally the fourth quarter of games like this are not so entertaining. Kelly Oubre made sure that wasn’t the case. He splashed 3-pointers on the Hornets first two possessions. After PJ Washington missed a 3-pointer, the Hornets wised up and fed Oubre again. He hit two more threes to give him four in about two minutes. It was the Kelly Oubre show from there. He ended up hitting eight 3-pointers in the quarter a Hornets franchise record for 3-pointers in a quarter and one shy of the NBA record set by Klay Thompson. Just watch it.

Oh, and the Hornets ended up winning the game.

Oubre’s monster fourth quarter kind of overshadowed what was a great all around game for the Hornets. All of their key contributors did what’s expected of them. LaMelo Ball stuffed the stat sheet. Gordon Hayward, Miles Bridges, and Terry Rozier brought the scoring. PJ Washington did a little bit of everything off the bench. The Hornets defended well in the first three quarters and played cohesive, efficient offense. They’ll need all of that with the Bucks coming to town for games on both Saturday and Monday.