What changed as the Hornets flipped the script with a stunning overtime defensive stand

Just a couple of nights ago, the Charlotte Hornets were bullied by the Chicago Bulls in the paint, allowing 80 points of the variety on the night, the majority of which came in the fourth quarter.

On Sunday afternoon in Cleveland, the Hornets had a few defensive miscues that allowed Cleveland to chip away at what was an eight-point deficit, ultimately sending the game to overtime.

The longer the game goes, typically, the better team comes away with the win. Not on Sunday. The Hornets did the unthinkable, holding the Cavaliers scoreless for the entirety of the overtime period.

🎙️ Charles Lee: "I loved the competitive response by the group."

"...to have a scoreless shutout in OT with (Darius) Garland on the court, with (Donovan) Mitchell on the court, (De'Andre) Hunter and all those guys that usually do such a great job of creating. I loved it." pic.twitter.com/1tWNmBxvCr
— r/CharlotteHornets (@HornetsReddit) December 14, 2025

“I loved the competitive response by the group," Hornets head coach Charles Lee said in his postgame TV interview. "Coming off our last game, where we felt our most important guy or guy on the ball didn’t take enough individual pride, and then we didn’t have enough collective shift activity behind it. I thought the guys responded from the first quarter to the end of overtime. To have a scoreless shutout in overtime (Darius) Garland on the court, with (Donovan) Mitchell on the court, (De'Andre) Hunter, and all those guys that usually do such a great job of creating. I loved it. It was Sion. It was Brandon. It was Miles. It was Kon. You can go down the whole roster because they all stepped up at different times.”

Lee was also asked about what changed in the Hornets' defense between the fourth quarter and overtime.

“It was a huge growth moment for us. We felt like we gave up too many offensive rebounds, especially as they got back into the game. We had multiple people hitting and crashing and trying to come up with every 50/50 ball and defensive rebound.”

Lee is known for his defensive pedigree, but in his one year and change as the Hornets' head man, the results have been pretty underwhelming, although to his defense (no pun intended), he hasn't had a healthy roster to work with. Maybe Sunday's overtime win can be enough to catapult this group into another tier on the defensive end.

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