Hornets bounce back from big loss to beat Knicks

LaMelo Ball returned to action and scored 25 points in the Charlotte Hornets' 115-98 victory against the visiting New York Knicks on Thursday night.

Mark Williams posted 19 points and 14 rebounds, Miles Bridges scored 15 points, DaQuan Jeffries had 14 and reserve Nick Smith Jr. added 13 for the Hornets (18-51).

Ball, who has had a string of ailments, sat out Tuesday night's 32-point loss to Atlanta. He made 10 of 23 shots from the field, connecting on five 3-point attempts. He didn't go to the free-throw line, but ended up with eight assists and five rebounds.

Bridges also didn't play Tuesday, but he cranked out a double-double by pulling in 10 rebounds.

The Knicks (43-26) suffered their second puzzling road loss to a bottom-tier team in as many nights after losing Wednesday at San Antonio. They shot 40 percent from the field to Charlotte's 48.9 percent.

OG Anunoby supplied 25 points and Karl-Anthony Towns racked up 24 points and 10 rebounds, but the Knicks couldn't overcome 10-for-39 shooting on 3-pointers despite limiting themselves to seven turnovers.

Mikal Bridges added 16 points and Josh Hart notched 13 points for New York, which dropped its sixth game in its last nine outings. The Knicks received only 11 points from their reserves, while Charlotte's backups compiled 37 points.

The Hornets, who've been particularly horrific on defense in recent games, held the Knicks to 44 first-half points. Charlotte avenged two losses to New York from earlier this season.

The Hornets were 15-for-32 on 3-pointers.

Charlotte led 54-44 at halftime and stretched the margin to 85-72 through three quarters. Ball's 3-pointer in the first minute of the fourth grew Charlotte's lead to 90-72, and the Knicks couldn't recover.

The Knicks, who completed a stretch of seven road outings in an eight-game span, finished with less than 100 points in a game for the third time this month.

--Field Level Media