Michael Porter Jr. had 26 points and 10 rebounds as the Brooklyn Nets took control in the fourth quarter and earned a 114-104 victory over the visiting Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night in New York.
Julius Randle contributed 22 points for Brooklyn, and rookie Mikel Brown Jr. finished with a season-high 18. Nolan Traore chipped in 16, and Danny Wolf contributed 13 after not playing in the first half.
The Nets shot 50.6% from the floor, made 14 3-pointers and were whistled for a season-high 34 fouls.
Naz Reid had team highs of 28 points and nine rebounds for the Hornets, who dropped their fifth consecutive game. Grayson Allen scored 16 of his 22 points in the second quarter, but Brandon Miller shot just 2-for-15 from the floor and was held to 10 points in the game.
Kon Knueppel made his season debut for Charlotte but played just 5:51 before exiting with left leg soreness.
The Hornets shot 40.3% from the floor, committed 17 turnovers and were whistled for 29 fouls.
After getting outscored 28-11 in the fourth quarter of Monday’s 103-90 loss to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, Brooklyn secured its first home win by outscoring the Hornets 34-24 in the final quarter.
The teams entered the fourth tied at 80 and traded 3s in the opening minute. After Wolf and Brown each sank a 3-pointer to give Brooklyn an 89-83 lead with 10:02 left, Porter hit three 3s in a span of 1:19.
Porter’s first 3 put Brooklyn ahead 92-87 at the 8:34 mark. His second extended the lead to 10 less than a minute later. He completed the outburst with a 3-pointer over Sion James from the top of the key, giving Brooklyn a 99-91 lead with 7:15 remaining.
Brooklyn didn’t let the lead slip below five the rest of the way, punctuating the win with a Porter dunk with 27 seconds left.
The Nets took a 67-65 lead on a free throw by Keon Ellis with 4:48 remaining in the third quarter to cap a 17-6 run after trailing by as many as nine in the opening minute. Charlotte took a six-point lead on a pair of free throws from James with 2:10 left, but Brown hit a 3-pointer with 30.9 seconds on the clock to knot the game entering the fourth.
Charlotte committed nine turnovers in the first quarter but held a 24-21 lead after James sank a layup with 2 seconds left. Allen capped his big second quarter by sinking three 3s in the final 3:15 to help give Charlotte a 57-50 lead at the break.
