Brandon Miller continued his strong scoring stretch with 23 points as the Charlotte Hornets rolled past an injury-riddled Denver Nuggets team, 110-87, on Sunday night.
Tidjane Salaun provided a boost off the bench with 13 points and 11 rebounds, and rookie center Ryan Kalkbrenner added 17 points and six boards as Charlotte dominated from the opening tip. Collin Sexton finished with 14 points and five assists, while LaMelo Ball chipped in 10 points, six assists and three steals.
Miller set the tone early, scoring 18 of his points in the first half while knocking down four of six 3-pointers. Charlotte stormed out to a 29-11 lead and carried a commanding 60-34 advantage into halftime. The Hornets pushed the margin as high as 33 points in the second half and never allowed Denver to threaten.
Charlotte entered the night having lost four of its previous six games and just 1-9 in its last 10 meetings with Denver, but took full advantage of a depleted Nuggets roster. Denver was without five of its top eight scorers, including Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon, Cameron Johnson, Christian Braun and Jonas Valanciunas. The absences proved costly, as the NBA’s highest-scoring team was held to season lows in points and 3-point shooting.
Jamal Murray led Denver with 16 points, ending a streak of three straight games with at least 30. The Nuggets, who had won six of their previous seven, dropped to 7-5 since Jokic was sidelined with a knee injury late last month.
Up next:
The Hornets return home Wednesday night to face the Cleveland Cavaliers after completing a five-game road trip. The Nuggets host the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.
