Hornets send Wizards to ninth straight setback

Brandon Miller scored 21 points, LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges both racked up 20 points and the Charlotte Hornets hit 52.6% of their shots from the field in a 119-115 victory against the visiting Washington Wizards on Saturday afternoon.

Kon Knueppel's 16 points and Moussa Diabate's 11 points and 14 rebounds also were critical for Charlotte. Bridges, Ball and Knueppel all made three 3-pointers as the Hornets won back-to-back games for the second time this month.

Tre Johnson's 26 points and Alex Sarr's 24 points led the Wizards, who absorbed their ninth consecutive loss despite connecting on 19 shots from beyond the 3-point arc. Justin Champagnie went 7-for-9 for 15 points off the bench, while Bub Carrington also provided 15 points to go with eight assists and Kyshawn George had 11 on 4-for-15 shooting. Jamir Watkins had 11 points off the bench.

Ball had 11 assists and Miller pulled in 10 rebounds to help the Hornets combat the team's 21 turnovers.

The Wizards shot a better 3-point percentage, going 14-for-36 (38.9%) compared to the Hornets' 19-for-53 (35.8%). Charlotte outscored Washington 23-8 at the free-throw line.

The Hornets built a 101-84 lead with less than 11 minutes remaining. But the Wizards had another burst, getting to within 105-100 with more than six minutes left on Sarr's putback dunk.

Charlotte's next five points came on free throws. But the margin dipped to 114-112 on Watkins' tip-in before Ball's runner. The gap was down to 117-115 on Carrington's 3 with 3.6 seconds to go before Bridges sank a pair of free throws.

Ball is 14-for-31 from the field in two games since his 1-for-15 mark in Wednesday's home loss to Cleveland.

The teams combined to shoot 56.5% from the field in the first quarter, which ended with the Hornets holding a 35-34 lead. Charlotte's lead was 66-58 at halftime.

The game's starting time was moved up six hours because of concerns about impending wintry weather in the region.