NBA: Hornets top Grizzlies, eclipse last season's win total

Brandon Miller scored 26 points, Miles Bridges added 20, and Moussa Diabate recorded 18 points along with a career-high 20 rebounds to lead the visiting Charlotte Hornets to a 112-97 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night. The win marked Charlotte's fourth consecutive victory.

LaMelo Ball contributed 16 points, while rookie Kon Knueppel added 10 points and six assists for the Hornets, who secured their 20th win of the season, surpassing last year’s total.

For Memphis, Jaren Jackson Jr. led the team with 26 points, and rookie Cedric Coward finished with 17. GG Jackson added 12 points off the bench.

Charlotte pulled away in the third quarter and maintained control throughout, taking advantage of a Memphis team missing several key players due to injuries. Star guard Ja Morant, a two-time NBA All-Star, remains sidelined with a left elbow sprain. Key reserve Santi Aldama also sat out.

The Grizzlies lost their fourth straight game and have dropped seven of their last nine.

Memphis trailed by seven at the start of the third quarter and briefly cut the deficit to 62-56 on a free throw by Jock Landale. However, the Hornets quickly extended their lead into double digits. Ryan Kalkbrenner’s dunk with 7:17 left in the third put Charlotte ahead by 17 at 79-62.

Four minutes into the fourth quarter, Charlotte pushed the lead to 19 following six straight points from Diabate and later extended it to 22 points in the final two minutes.

Charlotte, which started the season 4-13, has bounced back to go 16-15 since.

The Grizzlies shot 58% in the first half but still trailed 62-55. Memphis fell behind by 16 points in the first quarter, rallied to take a 43-42 lead on a Jaren Jackson 3-pointer, but then fell back after consecutive triples by Ball. Jackson finished the first half with 22 points, including four 3-pointers.

Miller had 21 first-half points for Charlotte, marking his eighth straight game scoring 20 or more points.

—Field Level Media/Reuters