Michael Porter Jr. scored a season-high 35 points as the Brooklyn Nets ended their nine-game home losing streak to start the season with a 116-103 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night in New York.
Porter returned after missing the previous two games due to back tightness that flared up during last Monday’s 113-100 loss to the New York Knicks. He made 13 of 24 shots, including seven 3-pointers, one shy of his career high.
Noah Clowney added 18 points, including a thunderous dunk in the fourth quarter when the Nets started pulling away. Nic Claxton contributed 13 and 11 rebounds for Brooklyn, which stopped a four-game skid and ended the longest home losing streak to start a season in franchise history.
Drake Powell chipped in 10 points and fellow rookie Danny Wolf finished with all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter as the Nets shot 44.8% from the field overall, hit 17 3s, scored 27 points off 18 Charlotte turnovers and finished with a season-best 33 assists.
Rookie Kon Knueppel scored a game-high 18 points for the Hornets, who were denied a third straight win and dropped their eighth straight road game. Collin Sexton added 15 points while LaMelo Ball collected 12 and 14 assists as the Hornets shot 44.7% and were outscored 57-44 in the second half.
Miles Bridges was held to eight points on 4-of-15 shooting from the floor after scoring 35 in Charlotte’s comeback win over the Toronto Raptors on Saturday.
After Charlotte took a 27-26 lead through the opening quarter, it began getting separation and took its first double-digit lead at 50-39 on a Sexton 3 with 6:14 left in the opening half. The Nets outscored the Hornets 20-9 the rest of the half and forged a 59-59 tie on a hoop by Clowney with 4.9 seconds left.
The Nets made a small surge in the final minutes of the third and held an 88-82 lead going into the fourth. Porter reached 30 points when he sank a 12-footer for a 100-93 lead with 6:16 left. Clowney’s right-handed dunk over Ryan Kalkbrenner opened a 105-95 lead with 4:34 left.
The Nets finished it off when Wolf dunked over Bridges and completed a three-point with 2:01 left for a 115-100 lead.
