By Sam Perley, hornets.com
more on:
charlotte hornets
photo gallery
See what you've missed from the:
video footage
Check out video coverage from:
Result
For the second time in as many games, the Hornets put together a dominant fourth-quarter performance on their way to a 122-114 win over the Denver Nuggets on Friday, March 31 in Charlotte. The Hornets trailed by eight points at the end of the third quarter, but started off the fourth with a quick 12-0 run on their way to outscoring the Nuggets, 36-20, in the final frame. Charlotte has won six of its last eight games and has also now swept the season series with Denver for the third time in the last four years.
Turning Point
Trailing 94-86 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Hornets took control in the final 12 minutes of the game by connecting on 12-of-22 field-goal attempts (54.5 percent), which included a 7-of-12 mark from three-point range (58.3 percent). Frank Kaminsky, Kemba Walker and Marco Belinelli combined to score 30 of Charlotte’s 36 fourth-quarter points as the Hornets sent the Nuggets to their third-consecutive loss.
Hornets Player of the Game
Kemba Walker amassed a game-high 31 points, three rebounds and eight assists in the victory. This is the 14th game of the year with 30-or-more points for Walker, which is a new single-season career high for the sixth-year veteran.
Nuggets Player of the Game
Nikola Jokic racked up team-high totals across the board in scoring (26 points), rebounding (13) and assists (10) for his sixth triple-double of the year in the loss. Jokic is now the first international-born player to ever record six triple-doubles in a single season in NBA history.(source: ESPN Stats & Information)
Game Notes
Frank Kaminsky tallied 22 points on 7-of-13 shooting (career-high-tying 5-of-8 from three-point range) and two rebounds in 27 minutes off the bench… Nicolas Batum added 13 points, five rebounds and a team-high nine assists… Jeremy Lamb (13 points), Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (11 points) and Marco Belinelli (11 points) also scored in double figures for the Hornets… Marvin Williams chipped in nine points, eight rebounds, a career-high-tying four steals and three blocks… The Hornets knocked down 17-of-36 three-point attempts (47.2 percent) while Denver connected on 16-of-33 shots from long range (48.5 percent)… Charlotte drained 25-of-30 free-throw attempts (83.3 percent) compared to Denver which was successful on just 8-of-11 shots from the charity stripe (72.7 percent)… The Hornets had just seven turnovers leading to six Denver points while the Nuggets had 13 giveaways leading to 18 points for Charlotte.
Quote of the Night
“Well our fourth-quarter offense has been there all year. We’ve been doing pretty well scoring in the fourth quarter, we’ve just been giving up too many points. The last couple games, we’ve gotten the stops when we’ve needed to and just made the plays at the end of the game. That’s what you have to do to win.” – Frank Kaminsky
Quote of the Night
“Well our fourth-quarter offense has been there all year. We’ve been doing pretty well scoring in the fourth quarter, we’ve just been giving up too many points. The last couple games, we’ve gotten the stops when we’ve needed to and just made the plays at the end of the game. That’s what you have to do to win.” – Frank Kaminsky
Next Up
The Hornets will kick off a two-game road trip with a battle against the Thunder starting at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 2 in Oklahoma City. The game can be seen on FOX Sports Southeast or heard on WFNZ or on the official Charlotte Hornets mobile app.
next up
Sunday, Apr 2 - 3:00 pmChesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, OK
Fox Sports Southeast - Charlotte Hornets App & WFNZ 610 AM