LaMelo Ball and Gordon Hayward each scored 27 points and the Charlotte Hornets recovered to defeat the visiting Milwaukee Bucks 126-114 after squandering a 20-point lead on Saturday night.
Ball produced a three-point play and Devonte’ Graham hit back-to-back 3-pointers to help the Hornets pull away in the final three minutes after falling behind. Charlotte scored the game’s final 10 points.
Malik Monk tallied 18 points and Graham and Terry Rozier both finished with 12 points for Charlotte, which defeated the Indiana Pacers a night earlier. Miles Bridges added 11 points. Ball, a rookie, had nine assists, while teammate Cody Zeller hauled in 15 boards.
It took plenty to offset Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 34-point, 18-rebound, nine-assist outing for the Bucks, who have given up huge point totals in consecutive losses. Antetokounmpo shot 12-for-19 from the field.
Jrue Holiday had 21 points, Khris Middleton posted 18 points, Pat Connaughton supplied 15 points and Bobby Portis chipped in 11 points for the Bucks, who’ve lost consecutive games for the second time this season.
The Bucks had a 110-108 edge with just under seven minutes to play.
The Hornets held a 51-31 lead less than 17 minutes into the game before seven straight points from Antetokounmpo. Before halftime, that had been reduced to a two-point spread.
Charlotte’s 68-64 halftime lead involved 51 percent shooting from the field, with 13 of the 25 field goals from 3-point range.
The Bucks, who were carved up on defense a night earlier in New Orleans, still had holes when the Hornets outscored them 39-31 in the first quarter. The Hornets were 8-for-11 on 3s in the quarter and added another on their first possession of the second quarter as part of a 12-0 blitz — capped by a pair of Monk 3-pointers — to start the quarter.
By then, it was hard to fathom that Milwaukee scored the game’s first 10 points, including eight by Holiday.
Hayward, who was held to 11 points on Friday, had 10 in the opening quarter.
–Field Level Media