Hornets Rally, Beat Cavaliers

Center Mark Williams had a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds and fellow rookie Bryce McGowens also scored 22 points as the Charlotte Hornets rallied in the fourth quarter Sunday for an eleven-point victory, 106-95, over the playoff-bound Cleveland Cavaliers.

Theo Maledon had a great floor game with 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Hornets, which finished the season with the fourth-worst record in the NBA at 27-55 and did not advance to the playoffs for the seventh year in a row. The Hornets bricked their first 24 3-point attempts.

“Unless you make the playoffs, it’s a long offseason, but these are important games for our young guys,” Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. “That’s why we played Friday and practiced yesterday to get ready for today against a very good Cleveland team.”

All-Star Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland both sat out for the fourth-seeded Cavaliers, who will have home-court advantage in their first-round series against Julius Randle and the New York Knicks. Sam Merrill scored 17 points and Danny Green and Raul Neto each had 13.

The Cavaliers failed to hang on to an 11-point advantage to complete the regular season at 51-31, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since reaching the 2018 NBA Finals versus the Golden State Warriors. It had the sixth-best home record in the league at 31-10.

“I’m confident and believe when we’re at our best, we’re a tough out for anybody,” Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “But it’s going to be a test for us because a lot of our guys are going into their first playoffs.”

Evan Mobley had six points and five rebounds, and Jarrett Allen had four points and six boards in limited minutes for the Cavaliers. They played 12 minutes apiece, none after the opening quarter.

“The NBA season is physically exhausting, so it’s good to take some time to be mentally refreshed,” Bickerstaff said. “We were able to see what some of our other guys can do to support the guys that are going to play heavy minutes in the playoffs.”

The Hornets did not dress their top six scorers, including point guard Terry Rozier and small forward Gordon Hayward, and finished 6 of 32 from 3-point range. Williams and McGowens both set career highs in scoring.

“We really wanted to end the season on a bright note and we’re really happy to have done that,” said Williams, who made 9 of 10 field goal attempts.

Svi Mykhailiuk had 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and gave the Hornets the lead for good at 82-79 with a 3-pointer with 9:49 remaining. The Hornets used a 38-11 surge to go up by 12 late in the fourth.

Bickerstaff gave his starters the option to sit out the final two games after locking up the No. 4 seed, which guards Mitchell and Garland opted to do. Power forward Mobley and center Allen did not play Thursday at Orlando, but wanted to take the court against the Hornets.

“I had a conversation with all those guys to see where they’re at,” Bickerstaff said. “Evan said he’d like to get some time. He just is a basketball player.”

Hornets: Guard Terry Rozier (right foot discomfort), Guard LaMelo Ball (right foot surgery), Forward Gordon Hayward (left thumb sprain), Forward Kelly Oubre Jr. (right shoulder strain), Forward P.J. Washington Jr. (right foot strain) and Forward Cody Martin (left knee sprain) were unavailable. Swingman Oubre, who averaged a career-high 20.3 points, will be an unrestricted free agent. Charlotte was 13-28 at the Spectrum Center and 14-27 on the road.

Cavaliers: Forward Isaac Okoro (left knee soreness) missed the final six games after being hurt March 26 against Houston but should return for the playoff opener next weekend. “We’ve missed him,” Bickerstaff said. “It will be huge having him back with the way he can contain the ball defensively.” Cleveland sold out all 41 home games at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, extending its streak to 50 straight in the regular season.