Local Sports

Hornets Edge Pacers in Season Opener

LaMelo Ball scored 31 points, hitting seven 3-pointers, and the Charlotte Hornets used a 24-0 third period run to battle back and beat the Indiana Pacers 123-122 on Wednesday night.

 

Indiana led 122-121 on Torrey Craig's foul shots with 12.7 left. P.J. Washington made two free throws with 4.6 seconds left before Domantas Sabonis missed from 11 feet to seal the Hornets' win.

 

Ball scored 12 points in the third-period run and finished with nine rebounds and seven assists. Gordon Hayward scored 27 for Charlotte, which got 14 each from newcomers Kelly Oubre Jr. and Ish Smith. Miles Bridges had 13 and Cody Martin 10 for the Hornets, who played without last year's leading scorer Terry Rozier.

 

Sabonis scored 33 points with 15 rebounds, Malcolm Brogdon had 28, and Chris Duarte chipped in with 27 for Indiana, which had a 21-point lead early in the second half. Justin Holiday added 11 for the Pacers.

 

Both teams had to overcome double-digit leads in the second half to set up a tense finish.

 

Indiana led the entire first half and appeared set for a second straight runaway victory in the series. In May, the Pacers' 20-7 opening run led to a 144-117 rout in a play-in game.

 

Wednesday, as Indiana pushed its lead past 20 to start the second half, Charlotte began its monstrous run with 8:48 to play in the third. Sabonis' basket gave Indiana an 84-63 lead. Ball took over from there, scoring 12 of Charlotte's 24 consecutive points, including two 3-pointers and a dunk.

 

Smith's basket gave Charlotte its first double-digit lead at 106-96. During the 24-0 Charlotte run, Indiana shot 0-for-8 and committed five turnovers over a 5 1/2-minute span. The Hornets outscored Indiana 33-13 in the period.

 

The Pacers are at Washington on Friday night.

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