Quickley’s 3-pointer at the buzzer sends Raptors past Hornets 97-96

Toronto Raptors guard Immanuel Quickley (5) brings the ball up court during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Charlotte Hornets, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Krista Jasso)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Immanuel Quickley hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer and the Toronto Raptors rallied from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the Charlotte Hornets 97-96 on Wednesday night.

RJ Barrett finished with 28 points and seven rebounds, while Quickley added 21 points. Scottie Barnes chipped in with 17 points as the Raptors won for the fifth time in six games.

Collin Sexton led the Hornets with 22 points.

LaMelo Ball, who scored 15 points, made a driving left-handed layup with 1.6 seconds left to give the Hornets a 96-94 lead. But Quickley got free off of a side-inbounds play and drilled his third 3 of the game, drawing a loud collective moan from the home crowd.

Charlotte had 18 turnovers to Toronto’s six.

The Hornets failed to follow a 124-97 upset win over the reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night despite a strong start in which they jumped out to an early 11-2 lead. However, the Raptors quickly stormed back with an 17-3 run to take the lead.

Charlotte took a 50-45 lead into the locker room at halftime behind 11 points from Kon Knueppel, who had a rare off night shooting finishing 4 of 17 from the field and 3 of 11 from 3-point range. The Hornets pushed the lead to 10 early in the fourth quarter after Moussa Diabate stole a pass at midcourt and drove the floor scoring on a spinning layup.

But the Raptors, who shot 3 of 27 from beyond the arc in the first three quarters, clawed back with Barrett giving his team the lead on a 3-pointer with 5:40 left.

Toronto was 4 of 7 from 3-point distance in the fourth quarter.

Up next

Raptors: Visit the Boston Celtics on Friday.

Hornets: Host the Indiana Pacers on Thursday.

Cal Reed, The Associated Press