CHARLOTTE, N.C. — LaMelo Ball made a career-high seven 3-pointers and finished with 24 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, and the Charlotte Hornets defeated the short-handed Houston Rockets 119-94 Monday night for their second straight win.

Miles Bridges had another strong outing with 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Gordon Hayward added 19 points for the Hornets, who opened the fourth quarter on a 19-1 run to blow open a tight game.

Victor Oladipo had 21 points to lead the Rockets, who lost for only the third time in 10 games.

Houston played without three of its top four scorers — John Wall, Eric Gordon and Christian Wood. Gordon and Wall were given a night of rest, while Wood missed his second straight game with a sprained right ankle. Together, the trio is accounting for more than 59 points per game.

RAPTORS 128, GRIZZLIES 113: Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam each scored 32 points as Toronto put together a second-half rally to win in Memphis.

Norman Powell added 29 for the Raptors, who began their rally after the ejection of Coach Nick Nurse in the third quarter. VanVleet also had nine assists for Toronto, which outscored Memphis 65-43 in the second half, including 34-16 in the fourth.

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Jonas Valanciunas led Memphis with 27 points and a season-high 20 rebounds. Dillon Brooks had 22 points, but was 8 of 20 from the field, while Ja Morant finished with 18 points and nine assists. He was only 5 of 17 from the field as Memphis shot 43%,

WIZARDS 105, BULLS 101: Bradley Beal scored 35 points and the Washington Wizards held on for a rare win, beating the Bulls in Chicago.

Beal, the NBA’s leading scorer, hit three free throws in the final 9.8 seconds. Rui Hachimura added 19 points and a season-high 10 rebounds on his 23rd birthday, and the Wizards won for just the sixth time in 21 games this season even though they rested Russell Westbrook.

Zach LaVine led Chicago with 35 points and Thaddeus Young scored 14, but the Bulls lost for the sixth time in eight games.

NOTES

BULLS: The Chicago Bulls expect forward Lauri Markkanen to miss two to four weeks because of a sprained right shoulder, another setback for a 7-footer off to his best start as a pro.

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The Bulls said Monday an MRI confirmed he has a sprained acromioclavicular joint. Markkanen was hurt Friday at Orlando when he was fouled by Magic forward Gary Clark early in the third quarter.

Coach Billy Donovan described the injury as a “bit freakish” with Markkanen “driving to the basket, being physical.”

Markkanen is averaging a career-high 19.1 points and 6.1 rebounds coming off a disappointing season. He is shooting 51% overall and about 40% on 3-pointers – both personal bests. Markkanen had back-to-back outings with 30 or more points against Portland and New York on Jan. 30 and Feb. 1. He missed seven consecutive games early in the season because of COVID-19 protocols.

NETS: The Brooklyn Nets made another addition to their frontcourt Monday by signing Noah Vonleh. The 6-foot-10 forward has played for six previous teams after being the No. 9 pick in the 2014 draft by Charlotte. He has averaged 5.0 points and 5.2 rebounds in 335 games.

Vonleh most recently played for Denver last season. His best season was with the New York Knicks in 2018-19, when he averaged 8.4 points and 7.8 rebounds. Seeking more size and defense, the Nets recently added Norvel Pelle and Iman Shumpert.

PACERS: Indiana assistant coach Bill Bayno resigned Monday, citing personal and health reasons.

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The 58-year-old Bayno was hired by former coach Nate McMillan in 2016 and was kept on staff by new coach Nate Bjorkgren following McMillan’s firing last summer.

“I appreciate the impact coach Bayno has had on our players and the Pacers organization over the last five years,” Bjorkgren said in a statement released by the team. “All of us at the Pacers wish him the very best as he transitions to his next chapter.”

Bayno recently took a leave of absence, telling The Indianapolis Star he was struggling with the recent deaths of both his parents as well as issues involving the recent social unrest.

LAKERS: Anthony Davis sat out the Los Angeles Lakers’ game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night with right Achilles tendinosis.

Lakers Coach Frank Vogel said Davis initially felt pain in the first half of the team’s win over Detroit on Saturday and was sore on Sunday.

“Nothing to really be concerned about, but just want to be precautionary,” Vogel said.

Davis is averaging 22.3 points and 8.6 rebounds for the defending champions. He scored 30 points against the Pistons despite getting treatment on his Achilles tendon at halftime.


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