Brandon Miller scored 25 points in three quarters as the Charlotte Hornets seized control early and rolled to a 117-86 rout of the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night in New York.
The Hornets (40-36) improved to 29-13 in the past 42 games and avoided a third straight loss by bouncing back nicely from their 15-point loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday. Charlotte has the same record as the Miami Heat but would lose the head-to-head tiebreaker in a battle for Eastern Conference play-in seeding.
After being held to 13 points against the Celtics, Miller scored 16 in the first quarter when the Hornets produced a 15-0 run and held a 35-18 lead. Miller made his first five shots, finished 7-for-13 overall, hit four 3-pointers and made all seven of his free-throw attempts.
Miles Bridges added 19 while also playing three quarters as the Hornets led for the final 45:44 and went up by as many as 35 points.
LaMelo Ball also played three quarters and collected 14, nine assists and seven rebounds.
Moussa Diabate and rookie Kon Knueppel were the only Charlotte starters to see minutes in the fourth. Diabate contributed 10 points and 12 boards while Knueppel finished with eight points and seven rebounds.
Reserves Coby White chipped in 16 while Grant Williams finished with 10 as Charlotte posted its sixth game by at least 30 points this season.
The Hornets shot 47.1%, hit 12-of-39 3-point tries and commanded the glass by a 47-30 margin.
The Nets (18-58) lost for the 11th time in 12 games and fell to 3-21 in their past 24. Brooklyn is a half-game ahead of the Washington Wizards (17-58) and Indiana Pacers (17-58) in the race for the NBA’s worst record and best draft lottery odds.
Brooklyn shot 38.4%, misfired on 28-of-35 3s, committed 16 turnovers and lost by at least 30 for the eighth time this season.
Josh Minott led the Nets with 14 points. Rookie Chaney Johnson added 11 while first-year guards Drake Powell and Nolan Traore along with Ziaire Williams finished with 10 apiece.
After briefly letting the lead slip to eight, Charlotte held a 58-45 lead by halftime, pulled ahead further in the third and held an 89-63 advantage into the fourth.
–Field Level Media
