Hornets at Thunder
Kemba Walker went from scoring machine to facilitator, and the Charlotte Hornets still pulled out a win. Walker will try to continue showing off his well-rounded game and lead the Hornets to a third consecutive victory when they visit the Oklahoma City Thunder in the opener of a two-game trip on Friday.
Walker, who scored 60 points in an overtime loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday and followed that up with 43 points in a win over the Boston Celtics on Monday, handed out a season-high 11 assists to go with 16 points in Wednesday's 127-109 triumph over Indiana. "It shows what kind of fight we have," Walker told reporters. "We know that Philly game – it was a tough one for us. It was a tough loss for us. But we bounced back with the game against Boston and tonight. ... I'm glad that we came out, we came out and fought. We came out and we executed, and we had a huge win for us, huge win for us." Charlotte will need to execute at its best against the Thunder, who are winners of 11 of their last 13 and dominated the defending champion Golden State Warriors in a 123-95 road win on Wednesday. "Just making the right play," star point guard Russell Westbrook, who finished with a triple-double, told reporters, "Simple as that. Being able to find open guys and get them in scoring position. You never know who is going to do it. It opens the floor for everybody and it's a good way to attack."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FS Southeast (Charlotte), FS Oklahoma
ABOUT THE HORNETS (9-8): Shooting guard Jeremy Lamb led seven scorers in double figures with 21 points on Wednesday while going 5-of-7 from 3-point range. "I just took what the defense gave me," Lamb told reporters. "I had a lot of open threes. Kemba was penetrating and Cody (Zeller) hit me a couple of times, Frank (Kaminsky) hit me a couple times, so I was able to get some open ones and thankfully I was able to knock them down." Zeller and Kaminsky combined for 26 points on 11-of-20 shooting out of the center position.
ABOUT THE THUNDER (11-6): Just as Walker can turn from scorer to facilitator for the Hornets, so can Westbrook for Oklahoma City. The former MVP managed 11 points on 5-of-15 shooting Wednesday but handed out 13 assists and was pleased with his performance. "My job is to see the game, read the game. The game will tell you what you need to do," Westbrook told reporters. "As a point guard my job is to facilitate and have control of the game."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Thunder rookie SG Hamidou Diallo was carted off the floor after suffering a lower leg injury on Wednesday, but x-rays ruled out a serious injury.
2. Charlotte SF Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (ankle) sat out the last four games and is day-to-day.
3. Westbrook collected 29 points and 10 assists in a 111-107 win at Charlotte on Nov. 1.