Reeling Hornets shock Thunder

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — The Charlotte Hornets thrashed the National Basketball Association (NBA) champion Oklahoma City Thunder 124-97 on Monday.

The struggling Hornets, 12th in the Eastern Conference, dominated in Oklahoma City, where the league-leading Thunder suffered just their seventh loss of the season but their second in a row after a setback against Phoenix on Sunday.

Brandon Miller scored 28 points and Kon Knueppel added 23 for the Hornets, who grabbed 52 rebounds to the Thunder’s 33 and held a 23-13 edge in second-chance points.

Even 20 Hornets turnovers, leading to 26 Thunder points, couldn’t help Oklahoma City, which never led after the opening minutes and connected on just 36.6 percent of its shots from the field.

NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 21 points to lead five Thunder players in double figures, but OKC’s streak of 24 victories against Eastern Conference foes came to an end.

Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said Oklahoma City wouldn’t panic after dropping six of 12 games since their blazing 24-1 start to the season.

“We’ll evaluate it as we do every game, learn from it and then we’ll turn the page and try to be a better team,” he said after the Thunder were held below 100 points for the first time this season.

Meanwhile, Eastern Conference leaders Detroit delivered a statement win over the New York Knicks.

Cade Cunningham scored 29 points and handed out 13 assists to propel the Pistons to a 121-90 victory over the Knicks in a duel of the top two teams in the East.

Detroit improved to 27-9 and stretched their lead atop the East to four games over the Boston Celtics — who overtook the Knicks for second spot in the conference with a 115-101 victory over the Chicago Bulls.

Javonte Green added 17 points off the bench for Detroit and Jaden Ivey chipped in 16 for a Pistons team without injured starters Tobias Harris and Jalen Duren.