Kemba Walker’s overtime brilliance gets Charlotte Hornets past New York Knicks

This overtime defined why Kemba Walker is about to be the all-time scorer in Charlotte Hornets history.

He scored 11 points, added three assists, and dragged his team to the finish line for a 137-128 victory at Spectrum Center Monday. He was 4-of-4 from the field in the extra five minutes.

Walker finished with 31 points. He is now 20 short of breaking Dell Curry’s franchise scoring record, and is in position to do so at home Wednesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Hornets had opened a lead of as much as 17 points before Michael Beasley’s (27 points) and Trey Burke’s (42) big second halves. New York’s Tim Hardaway, Jr. hit a 3-pointer with 40 seconds left to break a tie, then Walker answered with a 3 with 17 seconds left. Burke’s shot in the final second fell short, sending the game to overtime.

This was the Hornets’ fourth consecutive victory, raising their record to 34-41.

Three who mattered

Dwight Howard: Long after Hornets’ playoff hopes evaporated, Howard (23 points and 13 rebounds) is still putting in solid performances.

Beasley: He still has a great first step to the rim.

Burke: A career high in scoring.

Observations

▪  The Hornets got back Nic Batum, who missed the prior four games with tendinitis in his left Achilles. Coach Steve Clifford said pre-game Batum would start, but be limited to about 22 to 26 minutes.

▪  Reserve center Cody Zeller missed his ninth consecutive game with soreness and swelling in his left knee. Clifford said Zeller’s knee had additional swelling recently when he upped his physical activity.

▪  Howard now has the single-season Hornets record for rebounds. He passed Larry Johnson’s 899 in the 1991-92 season. Howard also has the most defensive rebounds (649 by Anthony Mason in 1997-98) and the most games of 20 or more rebounds at six (Emeka Okafor had three such games in 2006-07).

▪  Howard is chasing Johnson for the most double-doubles in a Hornets season. Johnson had 49 in 1992-93. Howard is at 45, with seven games remaining.

▪  Wednesday should be a good crowd at Spectrum Center, with LeBron James in town with the Cavaliers.

Worth mentioning

▪  Howard was charged with a technical foul with just more than five minutes left in the third quarter. If he gets another this season, it will mean another automatic one-game suspension.

▪  The Knicks might be focusing on the kids, but it sure looks like former Hornet Courtney Lee is being under-utilized substantially.

▪  Treveon Graham didn’t play, the first time he sat out a game since late December.

Report card

B OFFENSE: Poor 3-point shooting, but the Hornets did a strong job of getting to the foul line..

C- DEFENSE: The Knicks kept unraveling things with dribble-penetration in the second half.

B COACHING: Trying to strike a balance between playing the kids and looking still to win.

This story was originally published March 26, 2018 at 9:38 PM with the headline "Kemba Walker’s overtime brilliance gets Charlotte Hornets past New York Knicks."