Let him cook. It took until the final game of the 82-game regular season, but the Charlotte Hornets finally fit 21-year-old JT Thor of Anchorage with a chef’s hat.
Given space to operate on Sunday, he used that leeway to leverage his breakthrough NBA performance with a 20-point, 9-rebound, 4-assist, 3-block effort that sparked a 120-110 victory at Cleveland.
It was a career day for the third-year forward and former West High player as he set career highs in minutes (41), points, rebounds and matched his career high in assists and blocked shots.
Thor was initially credited with 10 rebounds after the game, but an hour later an NBA official scorer took away a rebound.
He just missed becoming the first Alaskan to record a double-double since Jan. 26, 2018, when Anchorage’s Mario Chalmers of Memphis had 17 points and 10 assists against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Thor was also close to being the first Alaskan to bag 10 rebounds and three blocks since Jan. 20, 2010, when Juneau’s Carlos Boozer of Utah had 31 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks against Sacramento.
The 6-foot-10 Thor has dropped the hammer recently with a career day Sunday on the heels of becoming the fifth Alaskan to reach the 500-point career milestone on Wednesday.
He killed the Cavs by execution, making 8-of-11 field goals including three of six from 3-point range.
THORnder strikes ⛈️ @thorrjt | @Lowes pic.twitter.com/NtTrYxTdW2
— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) April 14, 2024
The Hornets outscored Cleveland 32-14 in the fourth quarter and Thor’s fingerprints were all over the comeback as he gathered three points, four rebounds, one assist, two blocks and one steal in the final 9:43.
Thor blocked Emoni Bates and Tristan Thompson both at the rim within a 14-second span to help the Hornets seal the deal and cap the most productive month in of the season with 17-minute, 7.3-point and 3.9-rebound averages in seven games. Even then, though, his playing time fluctuated.
That wasn’t the case Sunday. Thor started at forward and even though many Charlotte fans on social media were rooting for the team to tank for a potentially better draft pick, Thor turned up the intensity and played the entire fourth quarter to help the Hornets erase an 11-point deficit.
Alaskans in The Association
NBA CAREER HIGHS
41 – Carlos Boozer
34 – Mario Chalmers
31 – Trajan Langdon
26 – Brooks Thompson
20 – JT Thor
16 – Daishen Nix