Charlotte Hornets top New York Knicks, 95-93, as buzzer-beater nullified

Redemption time for Cody Zeller.

Seconds earlier he had missed both free throws off an ill-timed foul by New York Knicks forward Lance Thomas in a tie game. Then the Knicks were called for a shot-clock violation and the Hornets ended up in-bounding the ball under the basket. Zeller flashed to the basket and laid in Spencer Hawes’ pass for the go-ahead basket, a 95-93 lead.

But this game wasn’t over. The referees ruled there were six-tenths of a second left. Knicks rookie Kristaps Porzingis seemingly swished the winning 3-pointer, but a review by the officials showed Porzingis didn’t get the shot off before the final horn sounded.

The Hornets won their second game in a row, evening their record at 4-4. The Knicks fell to 4-5.

[Box score: Knicks versus Hornets.]

Three who mattered

Jeremy Lin: Some fancy passes, some fancy shots and a lot of second-half ball-hawking in a 17-point night.

Nic Batum: He sometimes seems reluctant to shoot. Not Wednesday when he scored a season-high 24 points.

Carmelo Anthony: He had a superstar third quarter with 13 points off 6-of-7 shooting from the field.

Observations

▪  Tuesday’s road victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves started a span of seven games in 11 nights for the Hornets. But there is a saving grace; the Hornets don’t play a road game from Nov. 18 through Dec. 4.

▪  Jeremy Lamb shot spectacularly his first six games as a Hornet (58.6 percent from field and 45.5% from 3-point range), but here’s an outlier: He entered the Knicks game 0-of-3 from the foul line.

▪  Marvin Williams has as many games of 10 or more rebounds this season (5) as he had all last season.

▪  Knicks rookie Kristaps Porzingis is good now with the potential to be terrific eventually. He long, a terrific leaper and you have to take him seriously outside the 3-point line.

▪  Arron Afflalo was a good free-agent signing by the Knicks over the summer. The Hornets had interest in him over the past two years.

Worth mentioning

▪  Rookie Frank Kaminsky got 10 minutes in the first half Wednesday, more sustained minutes than he’s gotten of late.

▪  This is two games in a row when center Al Jefferson did little to impact the game’s outcome.

▪  The Hornets demonstrated a real knack for creating shooting fouls in the preseason. They were productive in that regard in the first half, going to the line 17 times

Report card

B OFFENSE: They were solid from 3-point range and got to the foul line a bunch, which is going to be their formula this season.

B DEFENSE: They didn’t give Anthony many uncontested shots and the only other Knick that really worries you right now is Arron Affalo.

B COACHING: Steve Clifford demonstrated once again he’s not so wedded to Al Jefferson and Kemba Walker he won’t sit them on a bad night.

 

This story was originally published November 11, 2015 at 9:50 PM with the headline "Charlotte Hornets top New York Knicks, 95-93, as buzzer-beater nullified."