Immanuel Quickley buried a 3-pointer from the top of the arc at the final horn, capping a late comeback as the Toronto Raptors edged the Charlotte Hornets 97-96 on Wednesday night.
Toronto erased a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to earn its fifth win in six games. RJ Barrett led the Raptors with 28 points and seven rebounds, while Quickley finished with 21 points. Scottie Barnes added 17 in the victory.
Collin Sexton paced Charlotte with 22 points. LaMelo Ball scored 15 and briefly put the Hornets ahead with a driving left-handed layup with 1.6 seconds remaining, giving Charlotte a 96-94 lead. Toronto answered immediately, as Quickley shook free off a sideline inbounds play and drained his third 3-pointer of the night to silence the home crowd.
Turnovers proved costly for Charlotte, which coughed the ball up 18 times compared to just six for Toronto.
The Hornets were coming off a surprising 124-97 win over defending NBA champion Oklahoma City on Monday and opened this one with an 11-2 burst. Toronto responded quickly with a 17-3 run to seize momentum.
Charlotte carried a 50-45 lead into halftime behind 11 points from Kon Knueppel, though he struggled shooting the ball, finishing 4 of 17 overall and 3 of 11 from deep. The Hornets pushed their advantage to double digits early in the fourth after Moussa Diabate intercepted a pass at midcourt and scored on a spinning layup.
Toronto clawed back despite a rough shooting night from long range, having gone just 3 for 27 from beyond the arc through three quarters. The Raptors found their touch late, hitting 4 of 7 3-pointers in the fourth. Barrett gave Toronto the lead with a triple at the 5:40 mark, setting the stage for Quickley’s dramatic winner.
Up next
-
Raptors: Visit Boston on Friday.
-
Hornets: Host Indiana on Thursday.
