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Kemba Walker hits 3-pointer to force overtime and OT game-winner to push Hornets past Bucks (Videos)
About 5 1/2 minutes into the first quarter of the first game in the new Charlotte Hornets' history, Kemba Walker received a technical foul for what appeared to be getting too amped up after drilling a jumper.
"I was hype out there," he said during a post-game interview with Hornets sideline reporter Stephanie Ready. "I couldn't really calm down."
The newly paid point guard did his level best late in the proceedings to give the tuxedo-T-shirt-clad Charlotte faithful plenty of reasons to get hyped up themselves.
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After falling behind to the young Milwaukee Bucks by as many as 24 points in the third quarter of Wednesday's season-opening affair at Time Warner Cable Arena, the Hornets came back to notch a 108-106 overtime victory, marking the largest comeback in Charlotte's NBA history, whether the Bobcats or Hornets were playing. Walker led the way, scoring 11 of his game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter and OT, with five coming on the two biggest shots of the night.
The former UConn star's first heroic moment came in the final seven seconds of the fourth, with the Hornets trailing Milwaukee 99-97 and Bucks swingman Khris Middleton at the line to shoot a pair of free throws. Middleton, an 85.8 percent career shooter from the stripe, missed his first freebie, giving a Hornets club that had gone on a 17-5 run over the previous 6 1/2 minutes some daylight.
After Middleton made the second to put Milwaukee up 100-97, Walker took the inbounds pass, raced up the floor, got a great screen near half-court from center Al Jefferson, and veered to the middle of the floor, completely unmolested by Bucks. He pulled up and launched a 26-footer that splashed through the net with 1.6 seconds remaining, knotting the game at 100. Charlotte intercepted Milwaukee's attempted inbounds, but new Hornet Marvin Williams' potential game-winning heave came up shirt, sending the proceedings into overtime as the raucous Charlotte crowd rocked:
After a nip-and-tuck opening five minutes of OT, the Bucks and Hornets were level at 106-all, with Charlotte holding possession and 16.9 seconds remaining. Walker grabbed the inbounds pass and took another high screen from Jefferson, triggering a Bucks switch that briefly got the point guard matched up one-on-one with 6-foot-10 Milwaukee shot-blocker Larry Sanders. His path to the basket stalled, Walker backed up, gave the ball up and got it back, finding himself once again checked by opposing number Brandon Knight.
From there, Walker started to dance. He showed right, then crossed back between his legs to his left, getting Knight off-balance. He took another gather dribble to the left, stepped back and, with the shot clock winding down, launched precisely the kind of off-the-bounce long 2 that drives analytically inclined folks bonkers ... and drilled it. Hornets lead, 108-106, with 5.1 ticks remaining.
Hornets owner Michael Jordan took a second away from planning his new social media strategy to get exceptionally amped about Kemba's second shot:
New Bucks head coach Jason Kidd took a timeout and drew up a play to create an open look for the win. But Middleton's left-wing triple went wanting, and Charlotte held on for the two-point victory in a game that started dreadful — the Hornets shot just 39.1 percent in the opening quarter, and Steve Clifford's defense gave up 33 points on just 18 field-goal attempts to the not-exactly-high-powered Bucks in the second quarter — but ended with the W.
"It was tough early on. We made a lot of mistakes, things that we can fix," Walker told Ready after the game. "We have some high-character guys, who don't play much, who get in our ear, give us positive motivation. And you seen what happened, man. Results happened. We rallied."
Walker shot just 9 for 26 from the floor, including 3 for 9 from 3-point range, but he added six rebounds, five assists, a steal and a block without a single turnover in 39 minutes on the ball, and he came up big when the Hornets needed him most.
"Those last-second, last-minute shots, I love those situations," Walker said. "I love to win games for my teammates. Those guys put me in the right situations to hit those shots, and I made a big one."
A big two, actually.
Walker led five Hornets in double figures, including Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, whose remodeled jumper and free-throw stroke looked pretty sharp en route to 17 points (6 for 8 from the floor, 5 for 6 from the line), and new starting power forward Williams, who admirably spaced the floor (3 for 6 from long distance) on his way to 19 points in 33 minutes of work.
Premiere free-agent acquisition Lance Stephenson got off to a rocky start in his Hornets debut, missing his first six shots and not getting on the board until the 5:49 mark of the third quarter. He eventually got himself going, though, and announced his presence in the paint with authority, directly in the mug of one Larry Sanders:
Stephenson finished with seven points on 3 for 12 shooting, 13 rebounds, eight assists and just two turnovers in 40 minutes. Knight (22 points on 5-for-17 shooting, 13 assists, eight assists) led the way for Milwaukee, while Middleton and reserve guard O.J. Mayo each added 17.
Rookie forward Jabari Parker, the No. 2 pick in the 2014 NBA draft, had eight points and four rebounds in his debut, while fascinating sophomore Giannis Antetokounmpo added 10 points, five rebounds, one assist and one block off the Bucks bench.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
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