Batum's 26 points, 11 rebounds lead Hornets past W

Posted February 06, 2016 6:00 am

By BILL KISER

Washington Wizards' Ramon Sessions (7) gets called for the foul as he tries to get his shot off as he bumps into Charlotte Hornets' Jeremy Lin (7) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Saturday, Feb. 6, 2016. (AP Photo/Bob Leverone) The Associated Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Nicolas Batum had 26 points and 11 rebounds, and the Charlotte Hornets rallied in the second half to beat the Washington Wizards 108-104 on Saturday night.

Kemba Walker added 23 points, Marvin Williams also had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Spencer Hawes scored 14 points for the Hornets, who trailed by as many as 19 points in the second quarter.

John Wall scored 23 points, Bradley Beal had 22 and Otto Porter Jr. 20 for the Wizards, who led 58-48 at the half and were up by 12 points early in the third quarter.

Washington led 64-52 with 8:44 left in the quarter, but Charlotte went on to outscore the Wizards 26-11 over the rest of the period for a 78-75 lead. The Wizards rallied in the fourth quarter, swapping the lead four times with the Hornets before Walker's layup with 2:13 remaining put the Hornets ahead to stay.

After battling through five lead changes and five ties, the last at 25 at the end of the first quarter, Washington opened the second quarter with a 15-5 run to take its first double-digit lead.

Porter opened the period by hitting back-to-back 3-pointers, and Beal capped it with another 3-pointer to put the Wizards up 40-30 with 7:28 remaining.

Charlotte made just 3 of 16 from the field over the first 10 minutes of the period, while the Washington was 12 of 21. That allowed the Wizards to pull ahead by 19 points twice, the last at 57-38 on two free throws by Ramon Sessions with 1:57 left.

But the Hornets went on their own shooting tear over the final 94 seconds. Batum, who had 17 first-half points, hit a pair of 3-pointers during a 10-1 run to close out the period and cut Washington's lead to 10 points.

TIP-INS

Wizards: C Marcin Gortat had a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds. ... Jared Dudley scored 10 points. ... F Kris Humphries was inactive with a sore right knee.

Hornets: Batum came close to his second triple-double of the season, adding nine assists. ... Rookie G Aaron Harrison will return Monday from a seven-day assignment to the NBA D-League team in Oklahoma City.

UP NEXT

Wizards: Visit the Knicks on Tuesday night.

Hornets: Host the Bulls on Monday night.

Charlotte Hornets' Kemba Walker (15) drives to the basket past Washington Wizards' Marcin Gortat (13) as Washington's Jared Dudley (1) watches during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Saturday, Feb. 6, 2016. (AP Photo/Bob Leverone) The Associated Press

Charlotte Hornets' Nicolas Batum, left, stretches for a loose ball against Washington Wizards' Marcin Gortat, middle, as Charlotte's Cody Zeller, right, tries to help out during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Saturday, Feb. 6, 2016. (AP Photo/Bob Leverone) The Associated Press

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