The Charlotte Hornets continued their hottest stretch of the season on Monday night, beating the visiting Detroit Pistons 117-106, but lost star guard LaMelo Ball to a fractured ankle during the game.
Ball appeared to turn his right ankle while dribbling during the third quarter and went to the ground. He was shortly subbed out of the game and did not return. The team announced the injury shortly after the conclusion of the game. Ball finished the game with 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc.
Gordon Hayward added 19 points and Kelly Oubre Jr. joined ball with 18 points for Charlotte. Mark Williams provided 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Terry Rozier led the Hornets with 22 points as the team won its season-high fifth straight. Following Ball’s lead, Charlotte shot 13-for-26 from 3-point range. The Pistons were 3-for-26.
Heat 101, 76ers 99
Jimmy Butler had 23 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists and four steals to help Miami edge host Philadelphia.
Butler hit a spinning reverse layup with 1:28 remaining for a 100-99 advantage, then added a free throw with 8.8 seconds left. Philadelphia’s James Harden missed a 3-point attempt from the top of the key at the buzzer.
Gabe Vincent scored 14 points, Max Strus and Bam Adebayo added 13 apiece and Victor Oladipo had 11 for the Heat, who snapped a four-game losing streak. Joel Embiid led the Sixers with 27 points and 12 rebounds, Tyrese Maxey added 23 points before fouling out and Harden had 20 points and 12 assists.
Knicks 109, Celtics 94
Julius Randle and Immanuel Quickley scored 23 points apiece for host New York, which led almost wire-to-wire in a win over NBA-leading Boston.
Mitchell Robinson (10 points, 13 rebounds) had a double-double for the Knicks, who have won six straight and eight of nine to move into fifth place in the Eastern Conference, a half-game ahead of the idle Brooklyn Nets. Malcolm Brogdon scored a team-high 22 points for the Celtics, who lost for the third time in 12 games and fell into a virtual tie for first in the East with the idle Milwaukee Bucks. Jayson Tatum, who entered Monday averaging 30.4 points per game, was limited to 14 points before he was ejected late in the fourth quarter.
The Knicks led by at least nine throughout the second half and iced the win when Josh Hart hit a 3-pointer with 3:52 left in the fourth and Quickley converted the free throw following Tatum’s second technical foul six seconds later to extend their lead to 106-91.
Magic 101, Pelicans 93
Paolo Banchero scored 29 points and visiting Orlando defeated New Orleans. The score was tied at 93 with less than two minutes remaining before Banchero made two jumpers, and the Magic scored the game’s last eight points.
Moritz Wagner and Markelle Fultz added 14 points each and Wendell Carter Jr. had 11 points and 11 rebounds for Orlando, which began a three-game road trip by finishing a season series sweep against New Orleans.
Brandon Ingram scored 25 points, CJ McCollum scored 18 and Herbert Jones Jr. added 10 to lead the Pelicans, who lost their fourth consecutive game in their first home game in 17 days.
–Field Level Media
