LaMelo Ball dropped 20 of his 30 points in the first half, and the Charlotte Hornets outlasted the Sacramento Kings 117-109 on Wednesday night.
The Hornets won at Sacramento for the first time in more than two years.
Miles Bridges had 26 points, Kon Knueppel scored 24, and Brandon Miller added 20 for Charlotte. Ball shot 10 of 22 , including six 3-pointer, six rebounds and five assists.
On the other hand, DeMar DeRozan dropped 39 points for the Kings and moved past Hall of Famer Tim Duncan into 18th place on the NBA’s career scoring list with 26,505 points. Duncan, a 15-time All-Star, had 26,496 points in 19 seasons.
Nique Clifford had 18 points and seven assists for the Kings, who were attempting to win their third straight for the first time since early January.
Precious Achiuwa added 14 points and eight rebounds for Sacramento and Daeqwon Plowden scored 13 points.
Charlotte trailed much of the first half but began taking control in the third.
Bridges’ alley-oop pass to Miller gave Charlotte an 88-83 lead, and White’s three-point play early in the fourth made it 99-88.
Sacramento got within 108-100 with three minutes remaining, but Briges made a floater and Ball sank his sixth triple of the night and a pair of free throws to help them close it out.
Russell Westbrook was out for the Kings due to quad bruise.
Both teams will play on Saturday: the Hornets visit San Antonio, while the Kings visit the Los Angeles Clippers.
