Hornets 108, Wizards 104
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- For most of January, Charlotte guard Nicolas Batum limped around with a sprained right toe. The injury forced him to miss eight games, but its lingering effects were even more burdensome as he struggled to regain the form he displayed in his first two months with the Hornets.
Batum -- at last -- is feeling healthy again, and it's showing in his impact on games.
Batum just missed a triple-double in helping his Hornets overcome a 19-point deficit and claim a 108-104 victory over the Washington Wizards on Saturday. Batum logged 26 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, combining with point guard Kemba Walker's 23 points to help the Hornets achieve their ninth comeback victory of the season.
The victory was Charlotte's (25-26) third in the last four games. The Wizards (22-27) lost for the third time in their last four games.
Guard John Wall led Washington with 23 points on 7-for-17 shooting, and fellow guard Bradley Beal had 22 points on 8-for-13 shooting.
Otto Porter Jr. did the most damage for the Wizards in the second quarter, however, by scoring 17 of his 20 points in that period as their lead grew to 57-38 with 1:57 before intermission.
The Hornets closed the half with a 10-1 run -- led by two 3-pointers from Batum -- to slice Washington's lead to 58-48.
"You have to learn how to play with a lead, and we don't do it well enough right now," Washington coach Randy Wittman said. "We play, we relax, we gamble, we try things. 'We're up 20, let's try this.' At the time, it doesn't seem like any big deal."
Batum and Walker combined for 17 points in the third quarter as Charlotte outscored Washington 30-17 and grabbed a 78-75 advantage heading into the final quarter. Batum's nine points in the quarter came in the final 3:50 of that period.
"You can tell he's moving better, he's getting separation again," Hornets coach Steve Clifford said.
Said Batum: "I've been out of rhythm, I wasn't myself for the last four weeks, so I'm just trying to get back to where I was before my toe injury, the way I played for the first 30 games."
In his last two games, Batum is averaging 23.5 points on 50-percent shooting.
The Wizards outscored the Hornets 12-3 in a two-minute span at the end of the game and Washington held a 98-97 edge with 2:37 remaining after Beal sank a layup.
Guard Jeremy Lin sank a reverse layup and a clutch 3-pointer with 29.3 seconds remaining to give the Hornets the cushion they would hold onto.
"We're too complacent when we get leads, we get too comfortable with where we are and we think the game is over," Beal said. "But the game is never over. There have teams that have come back from 30 before and 20 is easy to come back from in this league."
NOTES: Wizards G Bradley Beal was back to coming off the bench Saturday after sliding into the starting lineup Friday for just the second time since Dec. 9. He missed 16 games with a stress reaction in his right fibula, and suffered a broken nose and concussion Jan. 25. Washington coach Randy Wittman said Beal remains on a minutes restriction; he played 32 minutes Friday. ... Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said he's hopeful C Al Jefferson will return to the team after the All-Star break. Jefferson had right knee surgery Dec. 31 to repair torn meniscus. When Jefferson returns, Charlotte might be at full strength for the first time since the start of the season. "We have some guys who are tired," Clifford said. "The other part of the injuries is we played that stretch of games with nine, 10 guys dressing. So guys were playing big minutes."