Charlotte Hornets fall at home to lottery-bound Denver Nuggets

Denver Nuggets guard Gary Harris grabbed in an offensive rebound with 25 seconds left to preserve his team’s possession and maintain the lead for a 101-93 victory over the Charlotte Hornets at Time Warner Cable Arena.

Nic Batum trimmed what had been a 22-point deficit to seven with 4 1/2 minutes left on a corner 2-pointer and a 3-pointer off an assist from Kemba Walker.

The Hornets caught a break in the fourth quarter when Nuggets center Nikola Jokic fouled out. He finished with 11 points and 14 rebounds.

The Hornets fell to 39-30, while the Nuggets improved to 29-41.

Three who mattered

Batum: He flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 24 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.

Jokic: The Nuggets center had a double-double and effectively guarded the rim until fouling out.

D.J. Augustin: He sure does relish playing against his first NBA team. He finished with 24 points.

Observations

▪  The Hornets got back reserve center Spencer Hawes, who had missed the previous 15 games with a sore lower back.

▪  Cody Zeller, who missed the second half in Miami Thursday with a left knee bruise, was able to play and start Saturday.

▪  The Nuggets sat star forward Kenneth Faried, who has a sore back.

▪  Monday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs, one of just four home games remaining, will be on NBA TV.

▪  Zeller drew huge applause in the first half after blocking three shots in one Nuggets possession. He had a career-best five blocks.

Worth mentioning

▪  Davidson coach Bob McKillop attended Saturday’s game.

▪  The Hornets made only three of 12 3-point attempts in the first half.

▪  Saturday’s 6 p.m. tip-off was at the NBA’s request to accommodate an international broadcast of the game.

They said it

“I didn’t know we were going to win (in Miami), but I knew we were going to fight for the win. But tonight we didn’t have that.” – Clifford.

“We just had bad energy. We didn’t play a consistent game at all.” – Walker.

“Man I don’t care about that. It’s been a long time since I’ve been here. That doesn’t bother me at all.” – Augustin on being booed.

Report card

C- OFFENSE: Far too much settling for guarded jump shots.

C DEFENSE: They gave up a lot of points in the lane.

C COACHING: Losing at home to a sub-.500 team negated the momentum of winning in Miami Thursday.

This story was originally published March 19, 2016 at 8:25 PM with the headline "Charlotte Hornets fall at home to lottery-bound Denver Nuggets."