CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Miles Bridges scored 25 points, rookie Kon Knueppel set a franchise record for 3-pointers in a season and finished with 20 points as the Charlotte Hornets rolled past the Phoenix
Suns 127-107 on Thursday night.
Coby White added 19 points and LaMelo Ball had 15 points and 11 assists for the Hornets, who have won seven of nine. Brandon Miller added 17 points.
Knueppel, the No. 4 overall pick from Duke, made four 3s to give him 261, breaking the previous record of 260 set by Kemba Walker in the 2018-19 season. Knueppel broke the record with a corner 3 after missing two open looks earlier in the fourth quarter.
Earlier in the game, Phoenix’s Collin Gillespie set the Suns’ franchise record for 3s in a season, eclipsing the mark of 226 held by Quentin Richardson in the 2004-05 season. Gillespie finished with two 3s and six points.
Jalen Green had 25 points and Devin Booker added 22 for the Suns, who have lost six of their past seven road games.
Both teams entered the night looking to improve their seeding in the play-in tournament.
The Hornets (41-36) came in in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, two games behind Philadelphia and Toronto, who are tied for sixth. The Suns (42-35) entered in seventh in the West, but 4 1/2 games behind sixth-place Minnesota.
The Suns got off to a blazing start, making 17 of 28 from the field to build a 41-33 lead at the end of the first.
But Charlotte began to take control late in the second as Miller helped build a 66-60 lead the break. The second half was all Hornets as Miller's 3 early in the third put Charlotte up by 13.
After Knueppel broke the team's 3-point record, igniting the home crowd, the Hornets went on a run. Ball found Bridges for an alley-oop dunk. Bridges followed with a corner 3 put Charlotte up by 19.
Charlotte made 18 of 39 3-point attempts and outrebounded the Suns 47-31.
Suns: At Chicago on Sunday night.
Hornets: Host Indiana on Friday night.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
