Charlotte Hornets guard Devonte Graham hit two free throws with 15 seconds left to secure a 118-110 road victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Hornets trailed by as many as 18 points before rallying to pull away in the fourth quarter. They improved to 4-5, going 2-2 on their current road trip.
Rookie point guard LaMelo Ball just missed a triple-double, totaling 12 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.
Gordon Hayward led the Hornets in scoring with 26 points. Miles Bridges added 20 and Graham 17.
This wasn’t only the first time Ball and his brother, New Orleans point guard Lonzo Ball, played in the same NBA game, it was the first time they played against each other at any level.
LaMelo closed in on his first NBA triple-double over the first three quarters, with 12 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
Lonzo struggled for much of the game, finishing with five points (2-of-8 shooting) to go along with three assists and two rebounds.
Bridges’ role switch, from starting small forward to second-unit power forward plays to his strengths. This accentuates the best part of his game — power — without him constantly having to guard smaller, more nimble guys.
Bridges made seven of his first nine shots, one of the few Hornets to play well in both halves Friday.
Hornets coach James Borrego wants his team conscious of shot value, which means taking a majority of field-goal attempts either at the rim or outside the 3-point line. They had eight first-half dunks, so they clearly attacked the rim. The 3-point shooting was frequent, although anything but accurate.
Charlotte was 3 of 19 from 3 before halftime; two makes by Graham and one by Bridges. Combine that terrible jump-shooting with eight first-half turnovers, and the Hornets were probably lucky to trail at halftime by only 12.
Borrego said pre-game he didn’t plan any lineup changes, but he did say he wants to continue experimenting with guards Graham, Terry Rozier and Ball playing together some.
Borrego used that lineup some in the fourth quarter in the victory over the Atlanta Hawks Wednesday. The sample size going into New Orleans was small — 12 minutes over four games — but the Hornets were minus-15.4 points per 100 possessions with Graham, Rozier and Ball playing together.
Borrego utilized that Ball-Graham-Rozier lineup the second half of the second quarter.
Borrego sounded thrilled pre-game that there will be a G-League season (held in a bubble on Disney’s campus near Orlando, Fla.) and that the Hornets will be one of 17 NBA franchises fielding a team.
The G-League season will start in February with those 17 teams, plus an elite development team called Ignite. The Hornets have four rookies — Vernon Carey, Nick Richards, Grant Riller and Nate Darling — who need the minutes they’ll get at Disney with the Greensboro Swarm.
Borrego said it’s too soon to be specific who will go the G-League and whether all four will be there the entire span at Disney. But considering the circumstances — no summer league and just three weeks between the draft and training camp — saving the G-League season was a big boost.
“Today was a big day for us,” Borrego said. “It’s an unprecedented time (due to the pandemic): The lack of summer league, practice time, shootaround time (to coach players not in the rotation). Lack of game-time reps. We just don’t have them right now. It would have really set back our development program” had there been no G-League season.
DETROIT 110, PHOENIX 105
DETROIT — Jerami Grant had 31 points, 10 rebounds and a crucial assist near the end of regulation, and the Detroit Pistons beat the Phoenix Suns 110-105 in overtime after rallying from a 23-point deficit.
Detroit scored the first nine points of the extra session after barely leading at all during regulation. Grant had only two assists on the night, but one of them was to Mason Plumlee for a dunk that tied it at 93 with 9.6 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Then Devin Booker missed a jumper that could have won it for the Suns.
Booker scored 23 points for Phoenix, including a 3-pointer with 40.7 seconds left in overtime that brought the Suns within three. Grant answered with a 3-pointer in front of the Detroit bench to double the lead.
Phoenix entered the game with the best record in the Western Conference. Detroit came in with the worst mark in the NBA.
JAZZ 131, BUCKS 118
MILWAUKEE — Donovan Mitchell scored 32 points and Utah made a franchise-record 25 3-pointers to hand Milwaukee its first home loss.
Utah shot 25 of 53 from 3-point range to snap a two-game skid after double-digit losses at Brooklyn and New York.
Jordan Clarkson had 23 of his 26 points off the bench in the first half. Bojan Bogdanovic and Royce O’Neale each scored 18, with O’Neale going 6 of 8 on 3-point attempts.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 35 points and eight rebounds for the Bucks, while Khris Middleton had 31 points and 10 rebounds.
GRIZZLIES 115, NETS 110
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Dillon Brooks scored 24 points and Memphis held on to beat Brooklyn after Grizzlies center Jonas Valanciunas left midway through the game due to health and safety protocols.
Brandon Clarke added 21 for Memphis, which got its first home win of the season.
The Nets got 43 points from Caris LeVert, including 25 in the second half as they overcame a 22-point, first-half deficit.
Brooklyn was without Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, while Memphis was missing reigning Rookie of the Year Ja Morant and forward Jaren Jackson Jr.
CELTICS 116, WIZARDS 107
BOSTON — Jayson Tatum had 32 points, Jaylen Brown had 27 points and 13 rebounds, and Boston held off Bradley Beal and Washington for its fourth straight win.
Beal had 41 points and eight rebounds a game after tying the franchise record with 60 points against the 76ers.
Tatum hit 14 of 27 shots to power the Celtics, who were without Tristan Thompson, Grant Williams and Robert Williams because of COVID-19 protocols.
Rui Hachimura had 17 points for the Wizards.
THUNDER 101, KNICKS 89
NEW YORK — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 25 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, Hamidou Diallo scored a season-high 23 points, and Oklahoma City overcame an ugly start to beat New York.
Al Horford added 15 points and was practically the only offense early for the Thunder, who got better as the game went along and improved to 4-1 on the road.
RJ Barrett scored 19 points for the Knicks, who had their three-game winning streak snapped. Julius Randle, scoreless in the first half, finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.
ROCKETS 132, MAGIC 90
HOUSTON — Christian Wood scored 22 points and tied a career high with 15 rebounds to lead Houston past short-handed Orlando.
Houston was up by 29 at halftime and had extended the lead to 81-43 after consecutive 3-pointers by John Wall and P.J. Tucker with about five minutes left in the third.
Nikola Vucevic had 22 points and 12 rebounds for the Magic. James Harden had 15 points and 13 assists for Houston.
