'He’s narrowed his game': Darius Bazley shines in back-to-back, but Thunder falls to Hornets

The Hornets are hard to prepare for. Not because of how good they are — they’re average — but in how they play. 

Charlotte came to OKC on Monday night averaging an NBA-best 114.6 points per game. The Hornets rank third in pace, behind only the Rockets and Timberwolves, and they rank second in fast-break points behind the Grizzlies. 

They’re all gas and no brakes, which also describes their defense. Not a lot of stops. 

“They’re really, really fast,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said before the game. “They’re all-in on that, and they’ve got personnel that is wired to play like that.” 

The Thunder limited the Hornets to 12 fast-break points, but Charlotte’s high-octane offense found other ways to score. 

OKC, even after a 41-point first quarter, didn’t keep up. 

Charlotte ran away with a 134-116 win Monday night at Paycom Center. 

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The Hornets committed just five turnovers, and they outscored the Thunder 27-6 in points off turnovers. 

Charlotte capitalized off turnovers and cashed out on 3-pointers. The Hornets shot 20-of-35 (57%) from behind the arc. 

Terry Rozier led the Hornets with 30 points. Miles Bridges had 27. LaMelo Ball had 21 points and seven assists. Isaiah Thomas had 12 points off the bench. 

All four of them made at least four 3-pointers. 

Charlotte’s attack is unique. 

“They’re very different from a lot of teams,” Daigneault said. “Golden State’s like that. Denver’s like that. When you play those teams, they’re like one-of-one, and it’s a tough prep because it’s not relative to other games.” 

Before every game, one Thunder assistant coach is in charge of preparing for the opponent. 

For the Hornets game, that responsibility fell to Thunder player development coach Zach Peterson. Peterson is in his third season with the Thunder. Before that, Peterson was a video coordinator for the Bucks. 

He went to Michigan State, where he was a manager for the women’s and men’s basketball teams for two seasons each. 

“I don’t think he had Charlotte the first time,” said Daigneault, thinking back to a late January loss. “A different assistant had Charlotte, which happens from time to time.” 

That’s sometimes by design. Having different assistants scout the same opponent throughout the season is something Billy Donovan used to do, Daigneault said. 

“The old-school way of looking at it is like, you got Utah, and you’re the expert on Utah,” Daigneault said. “And what happens when you do that is the person forms a bias and a belief in how to stop that team. I think when you put different guys on the games, it creates a little bit more of a brainstorm and a collaboration.”

Here are four more takeaways: 

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Bazley’s back-to-back 

Darius Bazley had a good 24-hour stretch. 

After a career-high 29 points Sunday night against the Grizzlies, Bazley turned around and scored 25 points Monday night against the Hornets. 

They were his two highest-scoring games of the season. 

“He’s narrowed his game, he’s simplified his game, he’s playing a pretty predictable style that fits into the rest of the team, and it’s allowing his versatility to rise to the surface,” Daigneault said. 

Bazley was a dunking machine Monday night, knifing through the lane for easy buckets. 

He also stepped out and shot 4-of-9 from 3-point range. 

Bazley finished second on the team in scoring behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who led the Thunder with 32 points on a smooth 12-of-20 shooting. SGA had eight rebounds, five assists and three turnovers. 

Rookie wing Vit Krejci led the Thunder’s bench with 12 points on 4-of-6 3-point shooting. It was a career-high scoring night for Krejci. 

“Everybody benefited from the way we played stylistically tonight,” Daigneault said. 

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Frenetic first quarter 

The Hornets started the game shooting 7-of-7. Crazy good offense, right?

Not as crazy as what the Thunder did. 

The worst offensive team in the NBA worked some magic for 12 minutes. 

The Thunder scored 41 points on 16-of-26 shooting. It was OKC’s highest-scoring first quarter of the season. 

“The offense was really good in that stretch,” Daigneault said, “and continued to be throughout the night.” 

Charlotte has a bottom-10 defense, and OKC took advantage. The Thunder was two points shy of its highest-scoring quarter of the season. 

Gilgeous-Alexander, Bazley and Tre Mann scored 11, 10 and nine points respectively in the first quarter. 

OKC led Charlotte 41-29 after one. The Thunder was held below 30 points in the following three quarters. 

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Sarr starts 

Olivier Sarr notched his first NBA start Monday night. 

Sarr played three seasons at Wake Forest before transferring to Kentucky. The French center went undrafted, but he latched on with the G League OKC Blue. 

Sarr is now playing for the Thunder on a two-way contract. 

“He’s shown an ability and a willingness to be physical at the basket that has been intriguing,” Daigneault said before the game. “Against this particular matchup, it’s a good opportunity for us to take a look at him and see if he can bring that for us. 

“He’s got size down there and he sticks his nose into plays. I was impressed with how he battled (Steven) Adams a couple times last night.”

Sarr had seven points, seven rebounds and three assists. 

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Home woes

The Thunder has lost 10 straight home games, and it’s now 1-16 at home in 2022. 

OKC also fell to 1-10 at home against Eastern Conference teams. 

The Thunder beat the Knicks at home on New Year’s Eve. That’s OKC’s lone home victory against the East. 

The string of losses doesn’t seem to be weighing on the Thunder, at least not outwardly. 

Gilgeous-Alexander jumped in celebration after throwing an alley-oop to Bazley. He ran down the floor with a big smile. 

“I just love to play,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “No matter the circumstance, I love to be out there playing basketball.”