Doug McDermott scored a season-high 28 points and Malcolm Brogdon added 25 to propel the visiting Indiana Pacers to a 116-106 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday.
Domantas Sabonis collected 22 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists after sustaining a left knee contusion in Indiana’s 129-114 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Monday.
Justin Holiday highlighted his 19-point performance with five 3-pointers for the Pacers, who rebounded after squandering an early 17-point lead to record their third win in four outings.
Terry Rozier had 20 points, P.J. Washington added 18 and Gordon Hayward and Devonte’ Graham each had 16 for the Hornets, who have dropped six of their past seven games.
Charlotte’s Cody Zeller, an Indiana native, recorded 10 points and 14 rebounds in his first start since Dec. 23 against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Hornets trimmed their deficit to two on Zeller’s layup with 7:45 left in the fourth quarter, only to see Sabonis answer with a layup of his own. McDermott drained a 3-pointer on the Pacers’ next possession and added two buckets on the inside to give Indiana a 103-96 lead.
Brogdon calmly sank a 3-pointer and McDermott added a layup on his team’s next possession to extend the Pacers’ lead to 110-98 with 4:08 remaining. Indiana was not seriously threatened the rest of the way.
Graham made a pair of 3-pointers to help Charlotte bolt out to a 10-3 lead before Indiana responded by scoring 29 of the next 34 points. Justin Holiday scored 11 points and Brogdon added 10 as the Pacers made 14 of 23 shots from the floor — including 6 of 9 from 3-point range — in a 36-point first quarter.
Charlotte answered by scoring 27 of the first 35 points of the second quarter to secure a 46-44 lead with 4:21 remaining in the half. Hayward, Graham and Washington highlighted the surge by each draining a 3-pointer before Zeller’s dunk gave the Hornets their first lead since early in the first quarter.
–Field Level Media