Raptors outgun Walker-less Hornets

Kyle Lowry scored a season-high 36 points to lead the Toronto Raptors past the Charlotte Hornets, who were without Kemba Walker.

When you lose an elite scorer like Kemba Walker, it is natural to worry about if your team can score enough to keep pace. The Charlotte Hornets did not exactly struggle to score on Wednesday night but still couldn’t keep up with the Toronto Raptors, 126-113.

The backcourt of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan went off. Lowry made 8-of-11 threes and scored a season-high 36 points. DeRozan had 30 points of his own. They both also had six assists apiece.

As predicted, Dwight Howard took a more central role in the offense with Walker on the sideline. Howard scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Frank Kaminsky and Jeremy Lamb both had 18 points off the bench for the Hornets.

Michael Carter-Williams started for Walker and struggled mightily. The former No. 11 pick went 1-of-10 from the field. He had five assists but turned the ball over five times. The only real bright spots are that he got to the line and went 7-for-7 there and grabbed six rebounds. He certainly didn’t slow his counterpart defensively.

Malik Monk was thought to maybe get a bigger opportunity without Walker, but he played a minute less (16) than he did in the previous game against the Spurs. The Rookie was 3-of-4 from three-point range for nine points and had four assists, two rebounds, and a block.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Nicolas Batum were the other Hornets in double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

The Raptors never trailed and took the lead for good on a DeRozan jumper to give them a 12-10 lead with 6:29 to go in the first.

What’s Next

The Charlotte Hornets (8-12) play their next game against a fellow Southeast Division member, the Miami Heat (10-11,) on Friday, Dec. 1. Kemba Walker is still day-to-day with his left shoulder injury. This is their first of four meetings this season.

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Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET at American Airlines Arena.