At the end of the season, the Hornets play spoilsport in the race for the playoffs. After having trapped Dallas twice, Charlotte won to everyone’s surprise on the Oklahoma City floor (137-134). However, Steve Clifford’s men are greatly diminished at the end of the season since at the time of the in-between, they were deprived of LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, Gordon Hayward, Cody Martin and Kelly Oubre Jr., to whom he has had to add the last minute withdrawal of Dennis Smith Jr. So it’s P. J. Washingtonauthor of his career best with 43 points, which became the “go-to-cuy” of an evening to allow his team to sign a 3rd consecutive victory.
“A lot of guys played well” enjoyed Steve Clifford. “Our ball circulation was good. We had 34 assists and obviously PJ was great. We had a period where we were able to take the advantage thanks to him. He scored, he created shots for everyone. He played very well.”.
An exceptional 4th quarter
At the start of the last 12 minutes, the Thunder led by 6 points (99-93), and that’s when PJ Washington will enter the zone by scoring 22 points in the 4th quarter alone. An arsonist number with the address that goes with it: 8/11 in shooting including 3/5 in 3-points.
“We played with the right mentality. Everyone played together. We made some good shots. We played for each other. I’m proud of them” reacted the hero of the evening. “The credit goes to my teammates who allowed me to find myself in my preferential shooting spots. I just tried to be aggressive on the shots I took, go into the paint and take easy shots. I felt like I was on a good pace from the start of the game and I tried to keep that momentum going.”.
In the end, the stat line is impressive with 43 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists at 66.7% shooting including 55.6% at 3-point range. This spectacular performance allows him to become the third player in franchise history to achieve a 40/5/5 with at least 5 long-range baskets, after Kemba Walker (4x) and Devonte ‘Graham. He also confirms in passing his very good form, after scoring 28 and 21 points in the two previous victories over the Mavericks.
