By ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (AP) — Luka Doncic had 38 points, Rui Hachimura scored 13 of his 21 points in a pivotal third quarter and the Los Angeles Lakers pulled away in the second half to beat the Charlotte Hornets, 121-111, on Monday night, Nov. 10.
Austin Reaves added 24 points for the Lakers, who have won six of their past seven games.
Miles Bridges had 34 points on seven 3-pointers and rookie Kon Knueppel flirted with his first career triple-double before finishing with 19 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for the Hornets, who continued to struggle without their top two scorers in LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller.
The Lakers broke open a close game by outscoring the Hornets 31-15 in the third quarter behind Hachimura, who knocked down three 3s with Charlotte focused on blitzing Doncic, the five-time NBA All-Star.
Doncic thrilled the crowd with five 3-pointers and some dazzling passes, but even got himself hyped when he drove down the lane for a flying two-handed dunk in which he hung on the rim in traffic.
He even flicked the ball from three-quarters and swished it moments after the Lakers called a timeout in the fourth quarter, drawing a roar from the Lakers contingent.
Charlotte cut the lead to eight with 4 1/2 minutes left behind Bridges and Knueppel, but Doncic scored on a drive down the right side of the lane and drew a foul to complete a three-point play.
Marcus Smart added a dagger 3 with 2 1/2 minutes remaining to put the Lakers up by 14.
The Hornets started strong with Bridges scoring 16 points in the first quarter behind four 3s. But the Hornets cooled off in the third quarter, quickly running out of answers on offense while struggling to stop the methodical scoring presence of Doncic.
Meanwhile in Miami, Andrew Wiggins made an alley-oop dunk at the buzzer in overtime, and the Heat beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 140-138, in a wild back-and-forth game.
Norman Powell scored 33 points, Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 22 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists off the bench for the Heat. Wiggins scored 23 for Miami, which got a 14-point, 20-rebound game from Kel’el Ware.
Donovan Mitchell had 28 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists for Cleveland, including a 3-pointer to tie the game with 0.4 seconds left in overtime — before Wiggins caught a pass from Nikola Jovic for the game-winner.
Cleveland got 23 from De’Andre Hunter and a 21-point, 10-rebound effort from Evan Mobley.
The Heat are 5-0 at home for the third time in franchise history, joining 2012-13 (when Miami won the NBA title) and 2019-20 (when Miami lost in the NBA Finals).
Earlier in Inglewood, Vit Krejci scored a career-high 28 points off the bench, Kristaps Porzingis added 20 and the Atlanta Hawks opened a four-game road trip with a 105-102 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Jalen Johnson had 16 points and 10 rebounds as the Hawks overcame a 17-point deficit to win consecutive games for the second time this season. Krejci made a career-best eight 3-pointers in 10 attempts.
Porzingis (illness) and Johnson (quad) both returned after missing Sunday’s 20-point home victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, while Trae Young (knee) and Nickeil Alexander-Walker (back) remained out.
James Harden had 35 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in the Clippers’ fifth straight loss. Ivica Zubac added 13 points and 12 rebounds.
