Hornets deny Spurs their 60th victory of the season
Hornets deny Spurs their 60th victory of the season
Eleven seconds into the second quarter, Charlotte Hornets head coach Steve Clifford called a timeout with his team trailing the San Antonio Spurs 30-7.
Jeremy Lin answered that plea, scoring 15 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter to help host Charlotte rally for a 91-88 victory on Monday night, snapping the Spurs’ six-game winning streak and denying them their 60th win of the season.
Though perhaps not quite “Linsanity II,” the 23-point lead was the largest surrendered by the Spurs in the Tim Duncan era, which began in 1997, according to information provided to the Hornets by Elias.
Lin was 11-for-18 from the field and hit all four three-point attempts, including three in the fourth quarter, and provided the go-ahead jumper with 48 seconds left.
Charlotte became the first team to score seven points or fewer in the opening quarter and come back to win since the Utah Jazz against the New Jersey Nets on Dec. 12, 2008.
Nicolas Batum added 15 points, and Cody Zeller grabbed 14 rebounds for the Hornets, who bounced back from a disappointing loss to Denver on Saturday night.
Tony Parker had 19 points for the Spurs, and LaMarcus Aldridge added 18 points and 12 rebounds.
The Spurs had two chances to tie it at the end of regulation, but Patty Mills and Danny Green both missed three-point attempts.
Lee sealed the game with a steal off an inbounds pass as time expired.
The Hornets snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Spurs.
[...] we scored 84 in three quarters against a team that right now, by the numbers, is going to be the best defensive team in NBA history.
Derrick Rose and Taj Gibson had 18 points each, Doug McDermott added 16 and Pau Gasol had 14 points and 14 rebounds as host Chicago rallied behind a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter.
John Wall scored 27 points and dished out 14 assists, Bradley Beal chipped in 25 points, and visiting Washington extended its winning streak to a season-high five.
Avery Bradley had 22 points and nine rebounds, and Kelly Olynyk had 22 points in his fourth game back from a right shoulder sprain.