The Charlotte Hornets completed a four-game season sweep of the Washington Wizards with a 129-112 victory Sunday night at Capital One Arena.
LaMelo Ball delivered one of the most efficient shooting nights of his career. The All-Star guard made a career-high 10 3-pointers and finished with 37 points on 12-of-20 shooting, including 10-of-15 from deep.
Charlotte shot 25-of-46 from beyond the arc and broke the game open in the third quarter. The Hornets hit 12 of their 14 3-point attempts in that period to turn a five-point halftime lead into a runaway.
The visitors led 61-56 at the break before scoring on three of their first four possessions of the third. Brandon Miller drilled two 3s and Ball added another to stretch the margin to 70-56.
Kon Knueppel followed with back-to-back 3-pointers to push the advantage to 15 for the first time. Washington never trimmed the deficit below 13 the rest of the way.
Knueppel finished with 28 points and five 3-pointers. The rookie now has an NBA-high 198 made 3s this season and is nine shy of surpassing the rookie record set by Keegan Murray in 2022-23.
Miller added 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting and connected on five 3s. Charlotte placed four starters in double figures and shot 49% from the field overall.
The Hornets also controlled the glass, outrebounding the Wizards 53-37. Ryan Kalkbrenner grabbed nine boards and the team collected 16 offensive rebounds, which led to extra scoring opportunities.
Charlotte improved to 27-31 and remains 10th in the Eastern Conference standings. The club sits a half-game behind Atlanta and 1½ games ahead of Milwaukee in the play-in race.
Washington fell to 16-40 and missed a chance for its first three-game winning streak since February 2025. The Wizards have now dropped their first home game since Feb. 3 after the longest stretch between home dates in franchise history.
Bilal Coulibaly scored 15 of his 17 points in the first quarter to keep the hosts close early. The second-year wing finished 6-of-9 from the floor and added two blocks.
The Wizards shot 49% overall and 43% from 3-point range but struggled to string together stops during Charlotte’s third-quarter surge. Washington committed 11 turnovers and allowed 27 assists.
Next, the Hornets travel to face the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night. The Wizards head to Atlanta on Tuesday seeking their first post-break win.
