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Hornets blown out by Hawks 128-81 in first game home without LaMelo Ball, booed by sellout crowd
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Jalen Johnson had 19 points, eight assists and seven rebounds and Atlanta hammered the Charlotte Hornets 128-81 on Friday night in the Hawks’ largest blowout in franchise history.
The 47-point victory topped the previous franchise mark of 46 set in a 126-80 win over Sacramento on Nov, 15, 2017.
Aaron Wiggins added 19 points off the bench on 7-of-9 shooting and all five Atlanta starters finished in double figures in scoring, including Nickell Alexander-Walker with 14 and C.J. McCollum with 13.
Naz Reid led the Hornets with 17 points.
The Hornets did little to win fans over in their first home game since trading away star point guard LaMelo Ball, a widely unpopular decision in Charlotte.
The Hawks forced 14 turnovers in the first half alone, leading to 15 points on runouts and built a 25-point first-half lead.
The Hornets were booed loudly as they walked off the floor at halftime by the sellout crowd of 19,524 that was expecting better from a team that won 44 games last season.
The boos grew louder as the Hawks put the pedal down in the third quarter and pulled away, pushing the lead to 49 in the fourth quarter.
Charlotte’s Brandon Miller endured his second straight poor shooting night since signing a franchise-record five-year, $209 million contact extension earlier this week. He finished with six points on 1-of-11 shooting from 3-point range. He is shooting 16% (4 of 25) from beyond the arc.
The Hornets played their second straight game without last season’s NBA rookie of the year runner-up Kon Knueppel (hamstring), starting point guard Coby White (calf) and reserve forward Grant Williams (hamstring).
Coach Charles Lee said before the game he doesn’t have a timetable for their return Friday night, but did say all three players are making good progress in rehab and trending in the right direction.
Up next
Hawks: Host the Rockets on Saturday night.
Hornets: Host Miami on Saturday night in a rematch of last year’s play-in tournament game.
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See AP’s full NBA coverage here
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