CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kemba Walker had no nice way to describe the Charlotte Hornets’ 97-87 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
“That was pretty ugly,” Walker said, before quickly adding that the Hornets will take the wins any way they can get them.
Walker scored 18 points, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist added 14 and the Hornets got their third win in the last four games Thursday night to remain in first place in the Southeast Division.
“At the end of the day, it shows toughness,” Walker said. “It shows that we can withstand games. They really slowed it down tonight. But we really stayed with the game and won. … That’s what you have to do on some nights.”
Walker was just 7 of 19 from the field and Charlotte again struggled from the foul line at home.
However, the Hornets got a big boost from their bench, which combined for 46 points on 25 shots, led by Jeremy Lamb, who had 12 points.
“That was a hard game to play,” Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. “It wasn’t a conventional tempo for a NBA game to be played. It was slower. They really execute and they really changed their defenses. The tempo of a NBA game usually lets you get into a rhythm. But there was no way they would let us get into a rhythm. Bottom line is that’s a game that good teams win.”
Harrison Barnes scored 17 points and Justin Anderson added 15 for the Mavericks (3-15), who have lost 10 of their last 11 games.
The Hornets led by two when Walker drained a long 3-pointer to beat the shot clock with 3:51 to give his team the spark it needed. Lamb followed with a driving layup that resulted in a three-point play to push the lead to 86-78.
The Mavs would battle back behind Barnes to cut the lead to three, but Lamb hit two free throws and Walker buried a 3-pointer from the right wing with 41 seconds left to put the game out of reach.
