Oubre, Hornets finish strong, beat Pacers 115-109

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kelly Oubre Jr. scored28 points, and the Charlotte Hornets erased a 21-point first-halfdeficit to beat the Indiana Pacers 115-109 on Monday night behind astrong finish to snap a six-game home losing streak.

Terry Rozier added 23 points and Gordon Hayward had 22 for theHornets, who outscored the Pacers 19-4 over the final six minutesto deal the Pacers’ postseason hopes a big blow.

Myles Turner and Buddy Hield each had 20 points for the Pacers,who fell 2 1/2 games behind the Chicago Bulls for the 10th spot inthe Eastern Conference standings. The Bulls defeated thePhiladelphia 76ers 109-105 in double overtime on Monday night.

“Believe me, an opportunity lost for sure,” Pacers coach RickCarlisle said.

Oubre said he and his Charlotte teammates are well aware thatsome Hornets fans don’t want them to win at all at this point inthe season with the team eliminated from playoff contention, hopingto have a better shot at the upcoming NBA draft’s two prizeprospects Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson.

But Oubre said the Hornets aren’t bout to stop competing.

“It’s kind of backward when we people are commenting on how badwe played and when we lose they give up on us. But then when we winthey say ‘you’re not supposed to win,’” Oubre aid. “So it puts usin a uncomfortable position. But we are going to continue to playhard every night. ... We’re in the mind frame of setting upsomething for next year.”

The Hornets trailed 105-96 with 6:23 left in the game afterHield knocked down a 3-pointer.

But Svi Mykhailiuk’s 3-pointer from the corner sparked a 13-0Hornets run to put Charlotte in control as the Pacers were heldscoreless for more than five minutes. Hayward’s 3-pointer with 3:32left put the Hornets ahead for good.

The Pacers turned the ball over 21 times resulting in 35Charlotte points.

“At that point, you’re just giving it away,” Carlisle said.

The Pacers (32-40) looked like they might blow out the Hornetsearly, bolting to a 40-22 lead behind Turner, who had 15 points inthe first quarter on 9 of 9 shooting from the foul line.

The lead got as big as 21 in the second quarter, but the Hornets(23-50) battled back to take the lead in the third quarter when JTThor buried a 3-pointer from the wing off an assist fromHayward.

“Tonight, they were really good early, and we were really bad,”Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. “But you could tell in thehuddle, guys were talking, ‘stay with it,’ talking about thecorrections they had to make. We played better and better, so theywere rewarded tonight, which is great.”

Nick Richards was strong in the second half for Charlotte,finishing with 14 points and 17 rebounds.

HIELD’S ENDURACE

While some NBA players have missed a game here or there for loadmanagement reasons, Hield has now played in all 72 games for thePacers.

“He is very prideful about playing,” Carlisle said before thegame. “He hates missing games, plays hurt, and is very unique. Hehas a tremendous level of endurance, stamina, and he works at it.He’s also wired to love the game and he just loves to play.”

BALL IN THE FALL

Hornets point guard LaMelo Ball said he expects to return fortraining camp in the fall after undergoing season-ending surgery onhis broken right ankle on March 1.

Ball, who has been limited to 36 games this season, said heisn’t sure if he’ll begin wearing ankle braces next season afterspraining his left ankle three times this season prior tosustaining a season-ending fracture in the other ankle.

TIP-INS

Pacers: Played without Tyrese Haliburton (right ankle sprain),Chris Duarte (left ankle soreness) and Kendall Brown (right tibiastress fracture). ... Bench outscored Charlotte’s 45-18.

Hornets: Rookie center Mark Williams sat out his fifth straightgame with a right thumb sprain, along with Ball and Cody Martin(left knee soreness).

UP NEXT

Pacers: Continue four-game road trip at Toronto on Wednesdaynight.

Hornets: At New Orleans on Thursday night.