The Charlotte Hornets dethroned the shorthanded Denver Nuggets 110-87 on Sunday evening.
Hornets’ Brandon Miller dropped 23 points, and Tidjane Salaun came off the bench for 13 points and 11 rebounds.
While rookie big man Ryan Kalkbrenner had 17 points and six rebounds, Collin Sexton added 14 and five assists.
Miller has averaged 25.7 points per game over the past three games.
Charlotte had lost four of their previous six games and entered the night 1-9 in its past 10 matchups against the Nuggets, suffering its second-most lopsided loss of the season.
Meanwhile, Denver was without five of its top eight scorers, including center Nikola Jokic due to a bone bruise in the left knee, forward Aaron Gordon with a right hamstring strain, forward Cameron Johnson with a bone bruise in the right knee, guard Christian Braun with a left ankle sprain, and center Jonas Valanciunas.
The five players combine to average 77.3 points per game.
The Hornets rallied to a 29-11 lead and were up 60-34 at halftime, led by 18 points from Miller, and led by as many as 33 points in the second half.
Denver had won six of its previous seven games, but fell to 7-5 since Jokic’s absence.
Charlotte is set to face the Cavaliers at home after a five-game road trip on Wednesday, while the Nuggets host the Lakers on Tuesday.
