Porzingis makes eight 3s as Wizards beat Hornets, end skid

WASHINGTON(AP) — Kristaps Porzingis scored 36 points and matched a careerhigh with eight 3-pointers, and the Washington Wizards beat theCharlotte Hornets 118-104 on Wednesday night to stop a three-gameskid.

Deni Avdijahad 20 points and 13 rebounds and Bradley Beal had 17 points and 10assists for the Wizards, who broke open a close game in the thirdquarter and handed the Hornets their fifth straight loss.

Porzingisscored 18 in the third, including a personal 8-2 run in which hemade a 3, blocked a shot attempt by JT Thor and drained another 3.The 7-foot-3 Latvian concluded the burst with a 15-foot jumper toput the Wizards ahead 86-74, their largest lead to that point.

“A lot of itis in the mind, you know,” Porzingis said. “I just knew that I wasgoing to shoot the ball well. Even after the first half I was like,second half, it’s going down.”

P.J.Washington scored 20 points, Terry Rozier had 19 and LaMelo Balladded 16 for Charlotte, which entered the night only one game clearof the Eastern Conference cellar. The Hornets came in ranked 30thin the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage and went 9 of 31(29%).

“We justdidn’t come out in the third quarter with the same offensivepurpose and energy, and Porzingis obviously got going,” Hornetscoach Steve Clifford said. “We made two mistakes at the end of thefirst half, which led to two wide-open 3s for him and kind of gothim going, which is what happens with a lot of primaryscorers.”

The Wizardstook three of four in the season series between the strugglingfranchises. All three previous games were decided by eight pointsor fewer, and this one appeared headed in that direction during afirst half in which neither team led by double digits. Washingtonwas ahead 32-31 after the first quarter and Avdija’s 3 sent thegame into halftime tied at 61.

“I felt likewe were playing around a little bit in the beginning and we weren’tas aggressive,” Avdija said. “We came second half and we cameaggressive, we played together and we weren’t playing around. ...We sealed it pretty quickly.”

Beal, whomissed the previous two games with left foot soreness, picked hisspots to attack and struggled with his outside shot, but he lookedhealthy when he drove from the wing midway through the thirdquarter andelevated over the outstretched arm of MarkWilliamsfor a dunk that put Washington up 72-67.

“I thought helooked OK,” Wizards coach Wes Unseld Jr. said. “He was good.Defensively, I thought he was excellent. He made huge plays thatkind of stemmed the tide in our favor.”

The Wizardsexpanded their advantage in the fourth quarter with Porzingis onthe bench. He re-entered midway through the period and put the gameaway when he made his seventh 3 from the top of the key for a105-82 lead.

TIP-INS

Hornets: Thisis their fourth skid of five games or more this season. ...Clifford identified Porzingis’ range as a problem for his teambefore the game, noting the matchup problems he presents when theWizards play him at forward with Daniel Gafford at center. “We canbeat any team on any given night but we don’t have room for error,”Clifford said afterward.

Wizards: Twostarters were out: F Kyle Kuzma missed his second straight gamewith a sprained left ankle and PG Monte Morris sat with backtightness. ... Delon Wright started in Morris’ spot and had 10assists. ... Gafford limped off the court with 10:05 left in thesecond quarter. He returned to the Wizards’ bench late in theperiod and re-entered the game early in the third. He finished with13 points. ... Porzingis had nine rebounds.