Hornets rally from 21 down to top Suns, 115-110

Charlotte guard Nicolas Batum had 22 points and Dwight Howard and Kemba Walker had 18 apiece as the Hornets overcame a 21-point deficit for a 115-110 victory over the Phoenix Suns at Talking Stick Resort Arena on Sunday.

Among the reserves, Treveon Graham had a career-high 15 points and Jeremy Lamb had 15 for the Hornets, who have won three in a row.

Josh Jackson had a career-high 23 points and TJ Warren had 21 for the Suns, who have lost seven of eight and 10 of 12.

Dragan Bender and Devin Booker each had 18 points for the Suns, and Bender's fourth 3-pointer gave the Suns a 78-57 lead four minutes into the third quarter before the Hornets took over.

Booker suffered a left hip pointer in the fourth quarter and departed the contest.

Walker had 13 third-quarter points to help the Hornets get within eight at the end of the period, and center Cody Zeller made a three-point play for a 106-96 lead with seven minutes left to cap the Hornets' 20-2 run to open the fourth.

The Sun never were closer than five after that.

Graham's 3-pointer with 35 seconds remaining made it 115-107 and sealed the victory.

Howard had 14 rebounds and the Hornets had a 43-39 edge on the boards.

The Suns shot 53.2 percent and made 15-of-29 3-pointers, but they committed 19 turnovers to Charlotte's eight.

Bender started at power forward for Marquese Chriss, who was held out for what the Suns called a violation of team rules. ESPN reported Chriss had a verbal altercation with the team's strength coach after Friday's loss to Utah.

The Suns used a 15-3 run for a 56-45 lead in the second quarter. Jackson had eight points, including two 3-pointers, and Warren had seven in that stretch. The Suns made 8 of 14 3-pointers in the first half for a 59-48 lead.

The game featured the two most accurate shooters among the 40 players with at least 10,000 career rebounds.

Suns center Tyson Chandler entered with 10,045 rebounds and a 59.5 field goal percentage. Howard had 12,736 rebounds and a 59.3 shooting percentage. Howard is the league's leading active rebounder, ranking 18th in NBA history.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Hot-shooting Hornets cruise past Kings

Charlotte forward Nicolas Batum scored 21 points, and center Dwight Howard had 20 as the Hornets rolled to a 131-111 victory over the Sacramento Kings at the Golden 1 Center on Tuesday.

Jeremy Lamb and Johnny O'Bryant III each had 16 points, and Kemba Walker contributed 12 points and 10 assists for the Hornets (14-23). Charlotte shot 57.3 percent from the field and coasted after building a 20-point halftime lead that grew to 23 late in the third quarter.

Batum and Lamb made three 3-pointers apiece as the Hornets sank 15 of 32 from long distance. Marvin Williams, O'Bryant and Frank Kaminksy had two apiece.

Zach Randolph finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Skal Labissiere had 17 points and 15 rebounds for Sacramento, which has lost three straight home games since beating the Cleveland Cavaliers last Wednesday. The Kings (12-25) have lost five of six.


The Kings shot 51.7 percent from the floor and had a 47-30 rebounding advantage but could not overcome Charlotte's 3-point efficiency and precision ball-handling. The Hornets committed only three turnovers, while the Kings turned the ball over 15 times.

Charlotte posted a season high in points, two more than it had in an overtime victory over the Washington Wizards on Nov. 22.

Kings rookie guard De'Aaron Fox, the fifth player taken in the 2017 draft, had 17 points and four assists in 33 minutes. He started in his first appearance since Dec. 19, having recovered from a partial tear in his right quad. He had missed six games in a row and seven of eight, playing only 11 minutes in that Dec. 19 contest against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Kaminsky scored 12 points for Charlotte, which is 6-14 since Nov. 24.

Howard had 13 points in the first half, one of four Hornets in double figures at halftime, as Charlotte rolled to a 72-52 lead.

Williams had two of the Hornets' six 3-pointers in the final eight minutes of the first half, which Charlotte closed on a 33-14 run.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Undermanned Trail Blazers beat Nets

Trail Blazers 97, Nets 87

Playing without LaMarcus Aldridge and Nicolas Batum, the Portland Trail Blazers cobbled together a starting lineup and managed to beat Brooklyn.

Damian Lillard scored 28 points for the Trail Blazers (7-3), who set the pace nearly the entire game, leading by as many as 16 points and leading for the final 38:42.

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Clippers 120, Suns 107

Chris Paul scored 32 points, and the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Phoenix Suns.

Paul, who hit 10 of 13 shots from the floor, including five three-pointers, also had nine assists and five rebounds as the Clippers (5-3) beat the Suns (5-5) for the eighth time in the last 10 meetings.

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Mavericks 131, Timberwolves 117
Monta Ellis scored 30 points to lead eight Dallas players scoring in double figures as the Mavericks blew away Minnesota.

The Mavs (7-3) coasted to their seventh win in 10 games, while the Wolves (2-7) took their seventh loss in nine games despite 34 points from Kevin Martin.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com