Devonte' Graham hit a career-high nine 3-pointers, scored 29 points and hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds left as the Charlotte Hornets edged the host New York Knicks, 103-102, on Saturday night.
The Hornets won their second straight game on a last-second shot. A night after Malik Monk's buzzer-beater beat the Detroit Pistons to halt Charlotte's four-game losing streak, it was Graham's turn to complete a comeback from 15 points down early in the third quarter and from eight points down in the final 6:40.
New York held a 102-98 lead on Julius Randle's dunk with 48.2 seconds left. After two free throws by rookie P.J. Washington, Randle air-balled a floater with 12.3 seconds to go, setting it up for Graham.
After the timeout, Nicolas Batum inbounded the ball from near midcourt to Washington. Washington made a bounce pass to Graham, who gained enough separation from Frank Ntilikina to hit the 3-pointer from well beyond the top of the key.
New York called its final timeout with 2.1 seconds remaining but Randle's jumper was short as time expired.
Graham shot 9 of 16 from the 3-point range and 10 of 19 overall as Charlotte hit 17 3-pointers and shot 41.4 percent overall.
Washington added 19 points, while Terry Rozier contributed 16 as Charlotte rallied from a double-digit deficit for the sixth time this season.
Rookie RJ Barrett scored 22 points, including several clutch hoops in the fourth, but the Knicks were denied their first winning streak of the season. Mitchell Robinson added 17 and 12 rebounds coming off the bench but injured his left ankle and did not play for the final five-plus minutes.
Marcus Morris and Bobby Portis added 14 apiece for the Knicks, who held a 64-49 lead early in the third quarter. The Knicks were outscored, 54-38, for the rest of the game.
The Knicks opened up a 64-49 lead less than three minutes into the third when Morris connected with Taj Gibson for a thunderous dunk that prompted Charlotte to call a timeout. The Hornets outscored the Knicks 26-12 the rest of the quarter and got the lead down to 76-75 entering the fourth.
The Hornets held an 80-78 lead with 10:17 left on Cody Zeller's finger-roll layup but the Knicks scored the next 10 points and took an 88-80 lead on a dunk by Robinson with 6:40 remaining. Robinson's dunk occurred moments after he injured his left ankle when he stepped on Batum's foot while playing defense.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
