Jordan Poole hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 8.7 seconds left and the Washington Wizards rallied late to defeat the visiting Charlotte Hornets 113-110 on Thursday night after squandering a 21-point first-half lead.
Poole’s triple made it 112-110 before Charlotte’s Brandon Miller misfired from long range with six seconds to go. Washington’s Justin Champagnie rebounded and hit one of two free throws as the Wizards ended the game on a 13-4 run.
Poole led Washington with 25 points and Bilal Coulibaly added 20. Jonas Valanciunas had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Wizards, who have five wins this season, two of them against Charlotte.
The Hornets’ LaMelo Ball led all scorers with 31 points but was shut out in the fourth quarter. Miles Bridges had 22 points and 14 rebounds and Miller scored 18 for Charlotte, which has lost six straight and 14 of 15.
Vasilije Micic hit two 3-pointers and Tidjane Salaun also connected as the Hornets started the fourth quarter with a 9-0 run to tie the game at 96.
Bridges’ alley-oop layup put Charlotte up 101-100, its first lead since the first quarter, with 7:38 remaining. Mark Williams’ dunk soon increased the lead to 106-100 with 4:33 left.
Washington then scored seven straight, with Carlton Carrington’s layup making it 107-106, but Bridges’ layup put the Hornets back ahead by one with 1:21 left. Charlotte’s Josh Green missed two free throws with 38 seconds left.
After a miss and scramble for a loose ball at the other end, Alexandre Sarr’s tip-in gave the Wizards a 109-108 lead with 15 seconds remaining.
Ball then drove and lofted an alley-oop pass to Williams for the dunk to make it 110-109 before Poole came through for the hosts.
Charlotte trailed by 14 at halftime, but Ball’s floater cut the deficit to 84-79 with 4:10 left in the third quarter.
The Wizards led by five early in the second quarter before Corey Kispert hit a 3-pointer to make it 39-31. Kispert’s layup started a 7-0 run capped by a Malcolm Brogdon free throw and Washington led 49-35.
Coulibaly’s floater made it 63-47 with 3:38 left in the half and Poole’s free throw pushed the lead to 68-47 before Charlotte cut it to 68-54 at the break.
–Field Level Media
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