Balanced-scoring Hornets cruise to victory over Pacers

Brandon Miller scored 22 points and the Charlotte Hornets had plenty of offensive sources in a 129-108 victory against the visiting Indiana Pacers on Friday night.

The Hornets (42-36) have won eight of their past 10 games to remain in the chase for a top-six spot in the Eastern Conference and a guaranteed playoff berth.

Kon Knueppel poured in 20 points, Miles Bridges tallied 10 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter and LaMelo Ball cranked out 18 points and nine assists for the Hornets, who shot 24 of 49 (49%) on 3-point attempts. Sion James (13 points) and Coby White (11 points) led the charge off the Charlotte bench.

Pascal Siakam's 30 points on 13-for-24 shooting led Indiana, which has long since been eliminated from playoff contention. Quenton Jackson posted 16 points, Jay Huff and Kobe Brown each scored 12 points and Obi Toppin had 11 points for the Pacers (18-59), who had won three of their previous five games but they were denied reaching their second three-game winning streak of the season.

Ball connected on a game-high five treys, while Miller sank four. They have each made two or more 3-pointers in 22 consecutive games, breaking the old franchise record set by Miller from Nov. 16, 2024, to Oct. 22, 2025.

Charlotte led 69-50 at halftime, led by James with 13 points, including four 3-pointers, off the bench.

The Hornets were 14 of 27 (51.9%) from 3-point range in the half, with Ball joining James with four treys. The Pacers shot 40% from the field in the half.

The Hornets raced out to a 25-11 lead in less than seven minutes and kept pouring it on for what became a 24-2 run in the opening quarter. Charlotte was on its way to a 38-point first quarter despite managing only three points in the last 2 1/2 minutes.

Ryan Kalkbrenner was Charlotte's starter center with Moussa Diabate sitting out with ankle soreness. The Hornets ended up with a 48-45 edge on the boards, led by eight rebounds from Kalkbrenner.

--Field Level Media