The Charlotte Hornets ended a six-game losing streak in style on Monday night, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 124-112 at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte behind 23 three-pointers and a huge night from Grayson Allen and Naz Reid.

Allen scored a game-high 27 points, including six three-pointers, and added six assists, four rebounds and two steals. Reid posted a double-double with 25 points and 13 rebounds, plus four assists and two steals. Together the pair combined for 52 points.

Charlotte were short-handed, missing three starters in Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel and Moussa Diabate, but they played with energy from the start and never let Cleveland settle.

A 40-point second quarter changed the game

The Hornets trailed early after Cleveland opened up a 14-5 lead, but the game turned in the second quarter. Charlotte outscored the visitors 40-25 in the period to take a 69-53 lead into half-time, with Allen scoring 20 of his 27 points before the break.

Allen and Reid combined for 32 of Charlotte's first 44 points, and the lead kept growing after the restart. At one stage in the third quarter the Hornets were ahead by 33 points, and the home crowd could enjoy the rarest of sights this season: their team in complete control.

The shooting was the story of the night. Charlotte went 23 of 46 from three-point range, a remarkable turnaround for a team that came into the game with the second-worst three-point percentage in the NBA. Allen made six triples and Reid made four.

Cleveland fought back, but Charlotte held on

The Cavaliers did not give up. Their reserves outscored Charlotte 32-17 in the fourth quarter and cut the lead to eight points, but the Hornets held their nerve. A key offensive rebound by Ryan Kalkbrenner, who finished with 15 rebounds including 10 on the offensive glass, led to a Royce O'Neale three-pointer with 2:44 left that sealed the win.

Tidjane Salaun added 14 points off the bench and O'Neale scored 10 as Charlotte's bench contributed 43 points. Meleek Thomas led Cleveland with 18 points off the bench, while Donovan Mitchell managed only 11 as the Cavaliers' starters scored just 56 points between them.

The defeat was Cleveland's fourth in five games, and it exposed problems at both ends of the floor. Despite shooting a higher percentage overall than Charlotte, the Cavaliers were beaten badly on the glass and could not live with the Hornets from long range.

What comes next

Charlotte now head out on a four-game road trip, starting against the Phoenix Suns on Thursday. The win will give a young, injury-hit squad belief that they can compete even without their first-choice starters, especially when the three-point shots are falling like they did on Monday night.