LaMelo Ball scored 28 points in his first home game in almost two months and the Charlotte Hornets beat the San Antonio Spurs 124-120 on Friday night, ending a six-game losing streak.
The Hornets made 16 of 29 shots (55.2 percent) from 3-point range to counter the Spurs’ 15-for-32 shooting (46.9 percent) on 3-pointers.
Brandon Miller had 24 points and nine rebounds, Miles Bridges racked up 23 points, P.J. Washington added 20 points and Terry Rozier provided 17 points and eight assists for Charlotte.
Keldon Johnson poured in 25 points off the San Antonio bench, while Tre Jones and Zach Collins both had 16 points. Devin Vassell had 14 points, Dominick Barlow added 12 points and Jeremy Sochan finished with 11 points, eight assists and eight rebounds.
The Spurs played without No. 1 overall draft pick Victor Wembanyama, who scored 26 or more points in his last three appearances beginning with a victory against Charlotte a week earlier. The rookie didn’t play because of an ongoing minutes restriction the team has implemented for him.
Trailing 112-103, Jones scored seven straight points to keep San Antonio in it. The Spurs had possession in the final minute with a chance to go ahead, but an offensive foul on Collins thwarted that chance and Ball converted at the other end with 26 seconds left for a 120-117 lead.
Vassell missed a potential tying 3 and Miller followed that by draining two free throws.
Ball, who delivered eight assists, hit two 3-pointers for the final points of the third quarter, including one in the final second, to extend Charlotte’s edge to 97-85. The Hornets hit 12 of 23 shots from 3-point range through three quarters.
The Spurs opened the fourth quarter with a 15-2 run. San Antonio went on to take one-point leads twice before Cody Martin and Ball hit 3s as the Hornets regained momentum.
Charlotte led 66-58 at halftime, with its starters accounting for all except three of the points for the Hornets. The half ended on Bridges’ banked-in 3-pointer. Miller had 10 points and five rebounds in the first quarter.
A big boost came from Charlotte’s 58.1 percent shooting from the field in the first half, though that was only slightly better than San Antonio’s 55.6.
–Field Level Media
