CHARLOTTE, N.C. — LaMelo Ball made six 3-pointers before breaking his right ankle in the third quarter, and the Charlotte Hornets held on to beat the Detroit Pistons 117-106 on Monday night for their fifth straight victory.
Terry Rozier scored 22 points, Gordon Hayward had 19 points and rookie Mark Williams added 15 points and 11 rebounds for Charlotte, which is still second-to-last in the Eastern Conference standings — ahead of only Detroit.
Ball finished with 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting from 3-point range, his fifth straight game making at least five 3s. He was hurt on a non-contact play in the third, and the Hornets announced after the game that X-rays revealed a fracture to his right ankle.
Hayward said Charlotte’s players didn’t find out about the severity of the injury until after the game, with most of them figuring Ball had just tweaked something.
“It’s certainly disappointing because he’s a major part of our team and we felt like we were rounding the corner,” Hayward said.
Ball’s other ankle has been bothersome this season — he’s sprained his left ankle three ties, limiting him to 36 games.
This time, he hurt his right ankle as he was he was dribbling and attempting to make a move near half court. Ball fell down, but managed to prevent the ball from going out of bounds. He left the game and did not return.
Hamidou Diallo scored 23 points, and James Wiseman had his best game since coming to Detroit from Golden State as part of a four-team trade, finishing with 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting. Marvin Bagley added 21 points and 12 rebounds off the bench for Detroit, which has lost five straight.
KNICKS 109, CELTICS 94
NEW YORK — Julius Randle and Immanuel Quickley each scored 23 points, and surging New York won its sixth straight and knocked Boston from the top spot in the NBA.
Celtics All-Star Jayson Tatum struggled through a 6-for-18 shooting performance and was ejected in the fourth quarter after picking up his second technical foul. He finished with 14 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
Jalen Brunson added 17 points for the Knicks (36-27), who inched ahead of Brooklyn into fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
Malcolm Brogdon scored 22 for the Celtics (44-18). They slipped percentage points behind Milwaukee (43-17), which has won 14 straight games and now owns the NBA’s best record.
Marcus Smart added 19 points but Boston missed 20 of its first 22 attempts from 3-point range and had its three-game winning streak snapped.
HEAT 101, 76ERS 99
PHILADELPHIA — Jimmy Butler hit an acrobatic reverse layup in the final minutes and finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists as Miami edged Philadelphia.
Butler’s spinning move and finishing layup while driving between the Sixers’ Joel Embiid and P.J. Tucker gave the Heat a 100-99 lead with 1:28 to play.
Philadelphia rallied from an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Butler added a free throw with 8.1 seconds left.
James Harden had a chance to win the game for the 76ers, but his 3-point try at the buzzer bounced off the back of the rim.
Gabe Vincent scored 14 points and Bam Adebayo added 13 as the Heat snapped a four-game skid.
Embiid had 27 points and 12 rebounds. Harden finished with 20 points and 12 assists.
MAGIC 101, PELICANS 93
NEW ORLEANS — Paolo Banchero capped a 29-point performance with three clutch mid-range jumpers in the closing minutes, and Orlando beat New Orleans.
The first two of Banchero’s big shots broke ties before he hit another to make it 97-93. Franz Wagner, who had 11 points, added a 10-foot floater from the baseline with 25 seconds left and Orlando held on from there. New Orleans lost its fourth straight.
Markelle Fultz and Moritz Wagner each scored 14 points for Orlando.
Brandon Ingram scored 25 points for New Orleans, which is clinging to the 10th and final Western Conference play-in spot by percentage points over Portland.