Brandon Miller, Hornets pull away late to subdue Blazers
Brandon Miller connected on six 3-point shots as part of his game-high 26 points as the Charlotte Hornets beat the visiting Portland Trail Blazers 109-93 on Saturday afternoon.
Coby White, in his delayed Hornets home debut after a trade from Chicago and time off with an injury, racked up 20 points -- 10 in each half -- off the bench.
LaMelo Ball provided 15 points and eight assists, Miles Bridges posted 14 points and Moussa Diabate supplied 13 points and 11 rebounds as the Hornets won their fourth in a row.
Miller went 6-for-12 on 3-point attempts. Charlotte's Kon Knueppel, in his first game since setting the NBA season record for 3-pointers by a rookie, shot 2-for-7 from long range and finished with 10 points.
The Trail Blazers pulled within 84-77 with 8:26 remaining before Bridges nailed a 3-pointer to ignite a 10-0 spurt. Portland, on the second stop of a five-game road trip, managed just two points in nearly a four-minute span.
Portland finished with 17 turnovers with 22 assists.
After building a 15-point lead, Charlotte settled for a 51-43 halftime lead. The Trail Blazers were 5-for-22 (22.7%) on 3-point launches.
Bridges and Diabate played in their first home game since being suspension for roles in a Feb. 9 brawl with the Detroit Pistons. They combined for 19 rebounds to help the Hornets to a 55-39 edge on the boards.
Donovan Clingan started and played 26 minutes with seven points for the Trail Blazers after missing Thursday's victory at Chicago because of illness.