Hawks force 25 turnovers, rout Hornets 128-81

Atlanta forced 25 turnovers and got 19 points each from Aaron Wiggins and Jalen Johnson in a 128-81 rout of the Charlotte Hornets on Friday, October 23.

Wiggins, who came off the bench, made 7 of 9 shots, including 3 of 5 from three, in 22 minutes. Johnson shot 9 of 16 with 7 rebounds and 8 assists in 29 minutes. Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 14, and Atlanta outscored Charlotte by 43 points while he was on the floor.

The Hawks took control early. An 11-0 run in the first quarter made it 18-9, and Charlotte's largest lead of the night was two points, at 2-0 in the opening minutes.

Atlanta (2-0) kept building, scoring 33, 35, 29 and 31 points by quarter. A 10-0 run late in the second quarter made it 66-43. Charlotte (1-1) never scored more than 23 points in a quarter.

In the final three minutes, Kingston Flemings set up three Atlanta threes: Corey Kispert, Asa Newell and Zuby Ejiofor, whose 23-footer with 58.2 seconds left made it 128-79, a 49-point lead.

Naz Reid led Charlotte with 17 points and 6 rebounds, but he committed 7 of the Hornets' turnovers. Brandon Miller, a starter, made 2 of 14 shots and 1 of 11 threes and scored 6 points.

Dyson Daniels took 7 of Atlanta's 17 steals and added 11 points and 9 rebounds. Charlotte made 11 of 51 threes, and the turnovers cost it shots it never got to take.

Hannes Steinbach's driving layup with 44.3 seconds left was the last basket and set the final score.

Up next

Hawks: home against the Houston Rockets on Saturday, October 24.

Hornets: home against the Miami Heat on Saturday, October 24.