What could have been one of the more thrilling seasonal victories for the Charlotte Hornets was right there for the taking in crunch time on Sunday evening at Spectrum Center. But a few-too-many pivotal mistakes in the final few minutes ended up being the difference in a tough 121-118 home loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Though out of the playoff picture for quite some time now, Charlotte had a chance to disrupt the postseason seeding for the second consecutive game following Friday’s home win over Orlando. It wasn’t meant to be though, despite having an octet of players score in double figures for the first time since Jan. 19, 2019, against Phoenix, according to Basketball Reference.

Even with Nick Richards back from a three-game absence, the Hornets stuck with Grant Williams as their starting center against Oklahoma City’s seven-foot floor-spacing rookie Chet Holmgren. Charlotte shot 55% in the first half but committed nine turnovers for 15 points the other way to enter halftime trailing, 65-55. Down 14 early in the third, the Hornets would close the frame on a 9-0 run to make it a one-point Thunder advantage heading into the fourth.

Falling back by seven again with seven minutes to go, Charlotte pieced together a 13-4 stretch to take a 111-107 lead. Just when it felt like everything was going the Hornets’ way, the slipups started. Josh Giddey poked away a defensive rebound from Miles Bridges, leading to a second-chance 3-pointer for Aaron Wiggins. Two possessions later, a Vasilije Micić turnover led into a go-ahead transition 3-pointer for Isaiah Joe. Then, with the game tied at the 1:07 mark, Tre Mann wrangled a late steal, only to give the ball right back to Oklahoma City, which capitalized on the free possession thanks to another Joe 3-pointer. Both sides swapped points over the final 60 seconds, which ended with a wayward 3-point attempt at the buzzer from Brandon Miller.

The Hornets will close out their longest homestand in franchise history against the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday, April 9 beginning at 7 PM ET.