LaMelo Ball's Big Night Lifts Hornets Past Nets in Crucial Game

The Hornets move to 39-36 on the season.

BROOKLYN, N.Y.- In the biggest game of the season to date, the young Charlotte Hornets came away with a key win over the Brooklyn Nets on the road, 119-110. The Hornets now slide up to the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference standings and now hold the tiebreaker over Brooklyn.

It was a balanced start to the game as both teams were fairly even in just about every statistical category except one - rebounding. Brooklyn had their way on the glass and kept a number of possessions alive with an offensive rebound, sometimes two. Andre Drummond was a big factor in that department, but also led the Nets in scoring through the first half with 15 points. Who had that on their bingo card?

In a heavily anticipated night for Kyrie Irving's first home game of the season, he didn't get off to the best of starts. He missed his first four shots from the floor and finished the half with just six points on 2/9 shooting. The last time he went up against these same Hornets, he dropped 50 on them in a double-digit win.

One issue that has popped up from time to time this season for the Hornets has been their ability to finish near the rim. That was the case through two quarters, missing several layups and wide-open looks in the paint. LaMelo Ball was the only offense Charlotte had for about a quarter and a half where Miles Bridges found his rhythm scoring 13 points in the second. Charlotte trailed by as much as 14, but a 14-4 run cut into the deficit, making it a 60-56 Nets lead at the half.

LaMelo Ball packed a punch right out of the gate for the Hornets hitting three consecutive three-pointers en route to taking the lead. Meanwhile, Kyrie Irving remained ice cold from the field and with the Nets in a funk offensively, the Hornets took advantage and got out to an 11-point lead. Ball went 5/6 from three-point range in the third quarter alone, giving him 33 points. The Nets went on a mini 5-0 run to close out the third, trimming the Charlotte lead to four.

After only making two of his first seventeen shots, Irving finally got going scoring eight points during a 10-1 Nets run to take a 106-105 lead at the 3:36 mark of the fourth. Cody Martin helped give the Hornets a little separation by drilling back-to-back threes in the final two and a half minutes. The first was a prayer that he heaved up as the shot clock expired while the other was a wide-open shot off of the offensive rebound from P.J. Washington. Terry Rozier hit a tightly contested three to extend the lead to eight and Miles Bridges hit the dagger with another three to put the game away.

BOX SCORE

CHA: 26-30-37-26-119

BKN: 32-28-29-21-110

TEAM STATS (ACCUMULATIVE)

1st

CHA: 9/24 FG | 4/9 3FG | 12 REB | 8 PIP | 3 TOs

BKN: 12/27 FG | 3/13 3FG | 17 REB | 16 PIP | 3 TOs

2nd

CHA: 20/51 FG | 5/13 3FG | 26 REB | 26 PIP | 4 TOs

BKN: 24/48 FG | 4/19 3FG | 29 REB | 34 PIP | 5 TOs

3rd

CHA: 33/77 FG | 12/23 3FG | 39 REB | 38 PIP | 7 TOs

BKN: 35/74 FG | 6/28 3FG | 40 REB | 50 PIP | 8 TOs

4th

CHA: 42/98 FG | 17/32 3FG | 53 REB | 44 PIP | 12 TOs

BKN: 43/97 FG | 7/34 3FG | 50 REB | 60 PIP | 11 TOs

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