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Friday, Nov. 26 7:30pm ET
Hornets' bench overwhelms Wizards | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Twelve games into their schedule, the Charlotte Hornets didn't look much like a team that several preseason publications had picked as an Eastern Conference favorite. The Hornets blew open the game with a 20-0 run that helped them outscore Washington 41-8 over the last 14 minutes of the first half. The Hornets led by 31 after a first half in which the reserves scored 34 points, compared to 32 for Washington's entire roster. Miller had 11 points and seven rebounds. Phills added eight points, two assists and a steal in the decisive run. "They made a run and kept the momentum going, and that was all she wrote," Washington's Juwan Howard said. Miller wound up with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Phills had 10 points, three assists and a steal as Charlotte, improving to 7-1 at home, finished with a 63-38 edge in bench scoring. Seven Charlotte players scored in double figures, led by Elden Campbell's 19 points, in the Hornets' final game before playing four in a row on the road, where they are 1-4. Rookie Richard Hamilton had 16 points for the Wizards, who showed plenty of signs of fatigue in their third game in four days, including 27 turnovers that the Hornets converted into 29 points. "We just fell apart," coach Gar Heard said. The beginning of the end for Washington came when Phills entered the game with 2:35 left in the first quarter. Twenty-seven seconds later, Phills fed Todd Fuller for a fast-break layup that tied it at 24-all and started the decisive run. Nearly nine minutes later, after the Hornets had built their lead to 18 points, Washington finally broke its scoring drought on a 15-foot jumper by Ike Austin. But the Wizards' problems were far from finished. Charlotte scored the next five points, starting a 21-6 surge to go up 63-32 at halftime. "It was all keyed off of our defense," Silas said. "We were trapping the ball and making steals." Charlotte forced 12 turnovers in the second quarter and converted them into eight points. "It only takes two or three steals on the other end to get guys rattled," Phills said. "There was a lot of highlight film out there." In addition to the strong performances by Miller and Phills, the Hornets got seven points, three assists and two steals in the second quarter from Ricky Davis. Making his first appearance of the season following arthroscopic knee surgery, Davis had several acrobatic plays, the most spectacular of which was when he jumped high above the rim, caught a halfcourt alley-oop pass from Baron Davis with his right hand and slammed the ball through the rim in one sweeping motion. Charlotte scored 10 of the first 12 points in the second half to stretch its lead to 39, and the Wizards got no closer than 23 the rest of the way.Game notes Charlotte's Eddie Jones, who has led the NBA in steals since opening night and came in averaging 3.08, had two more against Washington. ... The Wizards have been held under 100 points in 10 of their 13 games and have yet to score more than 104. ... Hamilton made his first foul shot of the night, improving him to 20-for-20 this season, before missing two in a row in the fourth quarter. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Washington Clubhouse Charlotte Clubhouse RECAPS Milwaukee 114 Boston 112
Charlotte 118
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