On Wednesday night, the Charlotte Hornets hosted the Denver Nuggets with both teams looking to get some momentum going early in the season. The home team was able to continue their winning ways in Charlotte thanks to strong performances from Kemba Walker, Dwight Howard, and Frank Kaminsky. Here's the latest Nuggets vs. Hornets recap with top players, game stats, a standings update, and what's next for these teams.
NBA game recap
Charlotte took control in the first quarter behind a 27-23 scoring pace. In the second quarter, they really poured it on as they scored 35 points and the visitors were held to just 16.
Denver tried to make a run in the third quarter as they finished on a 29-23 pace. However, the final quarter saw each team scoring 25 points and Charlotte pulled away with a 110-93 win.
Leading the way tonight was Kemba Walker for the Charlotte Hornets' starters. He shot 4-of-9 and hit all nine free throws he took to finish with 19 points. Walker also had five assists and four rebounds. Dwight Howard picked up a double-double with 15 points and 19 boards. Fellow starter Jeremy Lamb had 16 points and five assists. Coming off the bench, Frank Kaminsky shot 9-for-15 and had 20 points while rookie Malik Monk finished with 17 points on 7-for-14 shooting.
The Denver Nuggets had three strong performances from starters as well with Nikola Jokic achieving a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Jokic shot 8-for-11 from the floor. Gary Harris also had 18 points, while Jamal Murray scored 16 points. Former All-Star Paul Millsap was held to just eight points to go with five rebounds in his 28 minutes of time in tonight's game.
In terms of game stats, the home team was hot, as they shot 47.5 percent overall and 43.3 percent from downtown.
Denver shot 38.4 percent overall and 25.8 percent from long range. The Nuggets won the rebounding battle 50-49, and also had one less turnover than the home team, but still couldn't grind out a win due to their lower shooting percentage.
What's up next?
The Denver Nuggets drop to 1-3 overall and 0-2 on the road with tonight's loss.
Next up, they'll visit the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, October 27th as Paul Millsap plays his former team. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time in Altanta.
The Charlotte Hornets find themselves evened out at 2-2 for the season and 2-0 on their home court. For their next matchup, the Hornets are scheduled to host the Houston Rockets on Friday night at 7 p.m. Eastern Time.