LaMelo Ball produced a big first half on his way to 32 points as the Charlotte Hornets won their fifth game in a row, beating the visiting Indiana Pacers 121-118 on Friday night.
Ball shot 12-for-22 from the field and also had 11 rebounds and eight assists.
Gordon Hayward had one of his most productive games with 25 points as the Hornets put six players in double-figure scoring.
Kelly Oubre Jr. posted 16 points, Miles Bridges had 14, Cody Martin added 12 and Terry Rozier chipped in with 10 points.
Jeremy Lamb scored 23 points off the bench and Malcolm Brogdon netted 16 for the Pacers, who have lost three games in a row. Torrey Craig had 14 points.
Indiana, which trailed by 25 points in the third quarter, threatened by scoring the last six points of the third quarter. The Pacers were within 102-95 with less than nine minutes to play.
Bridges scored the next five points in Charlotte’s 9-0 run. Yet the Pacers cut it to 120-115 with 41.5 seconds to play. Lamb’s trey accounted for the game’s final points.
The Hornets’ starters combined to shoot 17-for-20 on free throws. That helped overcome the team’s 17 turnovers.
While the Hornets have taken pride in riding strong defensive efforts to some recent victories, it was almost a nonstop flow of offense that kept them in good shape for most of the game against the Pacers.
Indiana had failed to reach the 90-point mark in its two previous games. But by the end of the third quarter, the Pacers were nearly at that level despite trailing 98-85. Still, at that juncture, Indiana had only Brogdon, Craig and Brad Wanamaker (12 for the game) with double-digit point totals.
Charlotte shot 53.5 percent from the field in the first half in building a 63-48 lead.
By then, Ball had 21 points and five rebounds, and Hayward had racked up 14 points.
The Pacers shot only 5 of 19 from 3-point range in the opening half.
–Field Level Media
