The Charlotte Hornets defeated the Brooklyn Nets for their second straight win, 119-110. It was Kyrie Irving’s home debut in Brooklyn, but he shot the ball 27 percent from the field and finished with 16 points. He dropped 50 points against the Buzz City squad earlier this month, so LaMelo Ball, PJ Washington and co. got a little payback on Sunday night.

Washington made sure to highlight that as a driving force for this huge win.

“We feel like we owed them. They came to our place and beat us pretty bad, so everybody was locked in. From earlier this morning, to walk through, we came in and did what we had to do,” the Hornets big man shared.

PJ Washington played a major role in this win. He finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. Plus, he might’ve had one of the top moments of the game when he called Kevin Durant too small after a layup. LaMelo Ball, however, stole the show. He finished with 33 points, seven rebounds and nine assists. His star shone the brightest on a court with two potential Hall of Famers in Irving and Durant.

Anyway, it was a neck-and-neck game all 48 minutes, but Charlotte dictated the tempo and held the lead a majority of the game. In the third quarter, the Nets took it over momentarily, but the Hornets turned things around and hit a flurry of tough shots and buckled down on defense.

In the final two minutes, the Hornets hit four clutch 3-pointers to shove a dagger in this one. Cody Martin hit two of them, followed by Terry Rozier, and then Miles Bridges put the icing on the cake.

“It was a whole lot of fun. Definitely needed that win. Cody, Terry, and Bridges stepped up big with those threes at the end. It was clutch, it was a great game,” Ball said of the victory.
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This game was super important because now, the Hornets won the season series versus Brooklyn. Meaning that if the two finish the season with the same record at the end of the season, the Hornets will have the edge for a higher playoff seed. Brooklyn isn’t likely to lose a ton of games, but Charlotte is hoping they do to secure that all important eighth seed.

“We know how series each game is and everyone is taking it seriously,” Washington added. He also mentioned that his guys aren’t scared of anybody. With playoff time approaching, the Hornets know what they have to do. The job is far from finished, but they are one of the hottest teams in the NBA right now, so the league should beware.

The Hornets play the Denver Nuggets on the second end of a back-to-back on Monday, so it’s time to get to work immediately.