Carmelo Anthony established season highs of 29 points, six 3-pointers and five steals and the Portland Trail Blazers halted a season-worst, four-game losing streak with a 123-111 victory over the visiting Charlotte Hornets on Monday night.
Damian Lillard also had six 3-pointers and recorded 23 points and 10 assists for the Trail Blazers, who set a franchise record with 24 3-pointers (on 46 attempts. Robert Covington scored a season-best 21 points, matched his season high of five 3-pointers and collected 10 rebounds.
Gary Trent Jr. added 17 points, Enes Kanter registered 11 points and 11 rebounds and Nassir Little tallied 11 points for Portland, which defeated the Hornets for the seventh straight time. The Trail Blazers also notched their 13th consecutive home triumph against Charlotte.
LaMelo Ball had 30 points, eight assists, six rebounds and four steals for the Hornets, who dropped to 2-3 on a six-game road trip. Terry Rozier scored 20 points, Malik Monk added 19 and Caleb Martin had 11.
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Charlotte’s P.J. Washington had just three points on 1-of-8 shooting, one night after scoring a career-high 42 points in a comeback victory over the Sacramento Kings.
Portland shot 53.5 percent from the field Monday.
Charlotte connected on 48.9 percent of its shots and was 15 of 34 from behind the arc. Ball made five 3-pointers.
Lillard scored 10 points in the third quarter as Portland turned a halftime tie into a 92-83 lead.
The Hornets trailed 80-76 after Ball made two free throws with 3:38 left in the period. The Trail Blazers scored 12 of the next 17 points to open up an 11-point lead.
Charlotte trailed by seven early in the fourth quarter before Portland hit four consecutive 3-pointers during a 12-0 burst. Rodney Hood and Little began the run by hitting from deep before Anthony knocked down two in a row to make it 104-85 with 9:25 remaining.
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The Hornets tried to stay in the game with a 9-2 spurt, but Lillard and Covington answered with 3-pointers to give the Trail Blazers a 112-94 advantage with 6:40 left.
Anthony later connected on consecutive 3-pointers to make it 118-101 with 4:24 remaining.
Anthony knocked down the team’s 24th 3-pointer with 1:32 left to close out his 17-point final stanza as Portland notched a much-needed victory.
Covington scored 16 first-half points on 6-of-6 shooting as the teams headed into the break tied at 59.
–Field Level Media