Notes, quotes, highlights: Charlotte Hornets lead late, but fall to Phoenix Suns at home

The Hornets led by seven points with less than 90 seconds to play. They couldn't hang on though and the Suns — led by Kelly Oubre — stormed back.

CHARLOTTE -- The Charlotte Hornets trailed by as much as 20 points against the Phoenix Suns on Monday night at the Spectrum Center, but fought back to take a seven-point lead.

But that major lift came with another mighty fall. Despite leading by three possessions with 1:11 left to play, the Hornets couldn't hang on.

Former Hornet Frank Kaminsky connected on a lay-up, Kelly Oubre hit back-to-back three's, and then Ricky Rubio and Devin Booker sank their free throws. The Hornets, meanwhile, missed three shots and turned the ball over once.

And so, the Hornets lost Monday night, beginning a five-game home-stand with a sour taste in their mouths, falling by a score of 109-104.

Marvin Williams led Charlotte with a season-high 22 points. The veteran forward went 10-of-10 from the free throw line and tallied five rebounds, three assists and two blocks, too.

Devonte' Graham poured in 15 points and 13 assists for his seventh double-double of the year, but the second-year guard went just 1-of-10 from three-point range and also had four turnovers.

Oubre and Booker each had 23 points for the Suns.

Highlights

Quotes

James Borrego: "I'm not going to put that one on youth... I don't care if you're 18, 20 or 40 years old out there. You know what you're supposed to do. You know what we do on our coverages down the stretch. If you miss a shot, so be it. You may have a turnover once in a while, but there are some things that happened down the stretch that are inexcusable and just poor basketball."

Marvin Williams: "I think everybody is disappointed, obviously, that we came out flat in the first half and literally just gave every single person on their team the basketball from top to bottom. We put ourselves in a huge hole... We didn't execute on both ends down the stretch and Phoenix made some plays. Give them credit."

Suns' head coach Monty Williams: "I'm thrilled with how we started this trip off... Dealt with adversity, played with poise down the stretch; I didn't see any panic in our guys. So, for me, that's a sign of growth.

Notes

• The Hornets committed 19 turnovers, the most they've had in 10 games.
• Bismack Biyombo started for the fourth straight game. He tallied nine points, 11 rebounds and two blocks in 26 minutes of play.
• Biyombo got his 500th block in a Hornets' uniform, placing him fourth in franchise history.
• The Hornets out-rebounded the Suns 53-37 and tied a season-high rebounding total.
• Charlotte was 9-of-9 from the free throw line in the third quarter.
• The Hornets' bench outscored the Suns' bench 49-26, tying a season-high for bench points.
• Dwayne Bacon played 16 minutes off the bench, totaling six points and four rebounds.
• UNC men's basketball coach Roy Williams attended the game with his wife. Williams talked with former Tar Heel Cam Johnson, who plays for the Suns, afterwards.
• Former Hornet point guard Tony Parker attended the game.

Also, Hornets' forward Nic Batum left the game with a hand injury. Read more about that here.