LaMelo Ball's 30-Piece Powers Hornets to Road Win Over Banged-Up Sacramento

The Hornets improve to 34-33 on the season.

Mar 11, 2026; Sacramento, California, USA; Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (1) smiles and gestures after scoring a three point basket against the Sacramento King during the fourth quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images | Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

The Charlotte Hornets picked up their second straight win of this road trip late Wednesday night, defeating the Sacramento Kings by a 117-109 score. With the victory, Charlotte is back above .500 at 34-33, and now 3.5 games back of the Miami Heat for the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference.

LaMelo Ball led the way for the Hornets with 30 points, sinking 10 of his 22 shot attempts. He had some help from his buddies in this one, too, as three other Hornets finished with 20+ points — Miles Bridges (26), Kon Knueppel (24), and Brandon Miller (20).

DeMar DeRozan gave Charlotte some issues defensively, which is no surprise considering all the success he's had against the Bugs throughout his career. He went for 39 points, shooting an unreal 17/22 from the field.

Best of the Night: Good Bridges returns

LaMelo Ball went off, but that's a regular occurrence. Coming into this game, Bridges had been shooting 30% from the floor and 16% from three in the team's first five games of March. He was really going through it, forcing some shots, and not playing with the same control in his drives to the basket. Last night, he regained his shooting touch and confidence, going 11/15 from the field, including a 3/4 night from downtown. For the Hornets to play well down the stretch and in the postseason, they need this version of Bridges and not necessarily one that goes 11/15, just not the version that shoots 30%.

Worst of the Night: Another slow start

Individually, I don't think anyone played poorly enough to single out. It was just not a well-oiled machine in the first 12+ minutes, particularly on the defensive end of the floor. As well as the Hornets have played at the start of games this year, I wouldn't view these last three games as a concern, but it's not a trend you want to have entering a pivotal matchup against a championship contender on Saturday.

Up Next:

The Hornets will have the next couple of days off before rounding out this four-game west coast road trip on Saturday against the San Antonio Spurs. Tip-off for that one is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET on Prime Video. Charlotte returns home on Tuesday for another crucial matchup with the Miami Heat.

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