Hornets visit Kings, continue playoff push

Two teams coming off exciting wins 24 hours earlier will attempt to double their pleasure when the Charlotte Hornets visit the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night.

In their push up the Eastern Conference standings, the Hornets got 12 fourth-quarter points from LaMelo Ball as they overtook the host Portland Trail Blazers 103-101 on Tuesday night to win for the seventh time in their last nine games.

Meanwhile, the Kings lost the distinction of the NBA's losingest team when Devin Carter scored 22 points in the fourth quarter as Sacramento rallied past visiting Indiana 114-109, handing the Pacers a 50th loss, equaling the Kings' total. (Sacramento has 16 wins; Indiana has 15.)

The Hornets and Kings have not met this season. They will see each other again in 13 days in North Carolina.

The win at Portland not only enabled Charlotte to reach the .500 mark, but also to pull a full five games up on Milwaukee in the battle for the 10th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with just 16 games remaining.

The Hornets (33-33) now are closer to sixth-place Miami (37-29), which currently holds down the last automatic playoff spot, than to the 11th-place Bucks (27-37).

One game after being held to 11 points in a loss at Phoenix, Brandon Miller paced Charlotte's win at Portland with 23 points.

He also found time for nine rebounds, four assists and three steals after acknowledging at the start of a four-game trip that a recent impressive run that had seen him average 22.8 points was only possible because of an energy boost provided by his teammates.

"It makes my job a lot easier when you see guys like Kon (Knueppel), Melo (LaMelo Ball), Miles (Bridges), Moussa (Diabate) playing as hard as they can," Miller told reporters. "All you can do is just play hard for your brother, and that's what we've been doing."

The Kings have enjoyed a burst of energy on a five-game homestand that opened with losses to Phoenix and New Orleans by a total of 21 points. Sacramento has since beaten the Chicago Bulls 126-110 before Tuesday's five-point triumph over the Pacers.

The winning streak is just the Kings' third of the season. They have had only one longer one -- a four-gamer in January immediately before losing 16 in a row.

Kings veteran Malik Monk noted after Sunday's win over the Bulls that he and his teammates owe it to Sacramento's loyal fans to put on a better show.

"It always feels good to get a win at home, especially in front of this crowd," he said. "I don't even know our record -- something terrible -- but as bad as we are, they always give us a lot of energy. They're always cheering for us no matter how bad we are, so kudos to the fans."

Eleven of the Kings' 16 wins this season have come at home.

- Field Level Media