The Charlotte Hornets got back to .500 (21-21) with a decisive 107-85 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday. The Hornets returned to the Spectrum Center after being blanked during a five-game road trip that put them below the Mendoza line for the first time this season.
Kemba Walker led all scorers with 23 points and five assists while Nicolas Batum added 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists against his former team. One of the biggest surprise contributions was the 16 points and six rebounds from Roy Hibbert, who was asked to play more minutes with Cody Zeller getting into early foul trouble.
Damian Lillard finished with 21 points, seven rebounds and six assists and CJ McCollum added 18 points for the Blazers (18-26), who shot 35 percent from the field and dropped to a season-low eight-games under .500.
When asked what it felt like to get back in the winning column, Walker said, “I almost forgot what it felt like to win. It’s been a while but it feels good, especially here at home. I thought we did a great job, we came out with great intensity from the beginning of the game and played that way throughout the whole game.”
Batum echoed his back court mate’s sentiments when being asked the same question. “Huge for us, it’s huge. Losing the last five games on the road, that was tough for us. We needed that win big time and we did a great job especially on defense tonight.”
The Hornets now look to capitalize on some home cooking as they enjoy four more games at Spectrum Center beginning with the Toronto Raptors (28-14) on Friday who had their four game winning streak snapped by the 76ers on Wednesday.
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