Charlotte Hornets win home opener over the Atlanta Hawks, 109-91

Dwight Howard got revenge on his former team as he helped lead the Charlotte Hornets to their first win of the 2017-18 season.

The Charlotte Hornets (1-1) were able to defeat the Atlanta Hawks (1-1) in their first game at Spectrum Center. The big three of Kemba Walker, Dwight Howard and Frank Kaminsky led the Hornets to their first victory of the season. The team rallied in the second half to complete a 20-point comeback.

Charlotte was without four key players in Nicolas Batum (elbow), Michael Carter-Williams (knee procedure), Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (personal) and Cody Zeller (knee bruise). Still, the team managed to overcome being shorthanded. Johnny O’Byrant made his season debut off the bench in place of Zeller.

Game Story

The Hornets were slow out of the gate and trailed by as much as 20 points in the first half. They cut Atlanta’s lead down to seven by halftime. A 24-0 run in the third period helped Charlotte take the lead and eventually gain a 20-point lead of their own in the fourth quarter. The second half surge propelled the home to victory.

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Player of the Game

Dwight Howard showed why the Hornets traded for him this summer. In a revenge game against his former team, the big man put up 20 points and 15 rebounds with a +34 +/-. He made a number of key plays that turned the game around including multiple monster dunks. Howard was efficient from the field shooting 8-12.

Kemba Walker led Charlotte in scoring as he finished with a game-high 26 points on only 13 shots to go along with nine assists. Frank Kaminsky came up huge off the bench with 21 points and six boards. Jeremy Lamb scored 15 points. Dwayne Bacon ended the night with 11 rebounds in only 19 minutes.

The Hawks were led by Dennis Schroder who scored 25 points. Taurean Prince scored 15 points while Dewayne Dedmon and Kent Bazemore each added 11 points to round out Atlanta’s double-digit scorers. In his return to Charlotte, Marco Belinelli was held to only five points in 22 minutes.

Highlight of the Game:

Tweet of the Game:

"Quick Stings"

• Charlotte out-rebounded Atlanta 52-34.
• Kemba scored 20+ points for the second consecutive game.
• The Hornets held the Hawks to only 37.9% (36-95) from the field.
• Charlotte’s turnover problem continued as they committed 21.
• The Hornets outscored the Hawks 48-40 in points in the paint.

With the win, Charlotte improves to 1-0 against Atlanta this season. The division rivals will meet a total of four times in 2017-18 with their next meeting coming on January 26th. After going 3-1 versus the Hawks last year, the Hornets will look to continue their dominance.

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In their next outing, the Charlotte Hornets will hit the road to take on the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday, October 23rd at 8:00 p.m. EST. Steve Clifford side struggled a bit against Milwaukee last season going only 1-2 in three meetings.