SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — LaMelo Ball scored 20 of his 30 points in the first half and the Charlotte Hornets beat the Sacramento Kings 117-109 on Wednesday night.
Miles Bridges scored 26 points and Charlotte beat Sacramento for the first time in more than two years. Outstanding rookie Con Knuppel scored 24 points and Brandon Miller scored 20 points.
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DeMar DeRozan scored 39 points for the Kings, surpassing Hall of Famer Tim Duncan and moving into 18th place on the NBA career scoring list with 26,505 points. Duncan was a 15-time All-Star and scored 26,496 points in 19 seasons.
Ball made 10 of 22 shots and hit 6 three-pointers. He had six rebounds and five assists.
The Hornets trailed for much of the first half but began to take control in the third quarter. Bridges’ alley-oop pass to Miller gave Charlotte an 88-83 lead, and White’s 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter gave Charlotte a 99-88 lead.
With 3 minutes left in the game, the Kings chased the score to 108-100, and Bridges hit a throw. Ball then hit his sixth 3-pointer of the night and made a free throw to help Charlotte tie the game.
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Nick Clifford had 18 points and seven assists for the Kings, who are trying to win three straight games for the first time since early January.
Precious Achiuwa added 14 points and eight rebounds for Sacramento, and Daeqwon Plowden scored 13 points.
The Kings were without Russell Westbrook (bruised quad).
In the first half, Ball and Bridges combined for 6 three-pointers and scored 31 points, but Charlotte made 8 turnovers and fell behind 62-57 at halftime.
Next
Hornets: At San Antonio on Saturday.
Kings: Visit the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA