Hornets 111, Knicks 97
NEW YORK -- Kemba Walker poured in 34 points to lead the Charlotte Hornets to a 111-97 win over the New York Knicks on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.
Walker now has 13 games with 30 or more points this season, the third-highest total in the Eastern Conference. He was 11 of 18 from the floor, making a career-best seven 3-pointers on 10 attempts.
Al Jefferson came off the Charlotte bench to score 24 points in 28 minutes. He had 14 points in the fourth quarter.
The Hornets topped 100 points for the 45th time this season, the most since reaching that level 51 times in the 1995-96 season.
Derrick Williams led the Knicks with 17 points and 10 rebounds, Sasha Vujacic netted 16 points and Carmelo Anthony dropped in 15 points.
Jefferson scored the Hornets' first 10 point of the fourth quarter to provide an 91-76 advantage with 8:05 left. Walker delivered two 3-pointers in a 10-3 Hornets buzz that pushed their lead to 81-70 with 1:00 left in the third.
Charlotte opened the third quarter on a 9-2 run to move ahead 62-54.
A 3-pointer from Williams at the halftime buzzer cut the Hornets' lead to 53-52.
The Knicks tied it at 34 on a jumper from Kyle O'Quinn with 7:10 left in the first half, but the Hornets responded with an 11-3 spurt for a 45-37 edge. Cody Zeller scored four points on two putbacks.
The Hornets led 30-25 after the first quarter thanks to 13 points from Walker, marking the 45th time that he has scored more than 10 points in a quarter this season. He was 5 of 7 from the floor, including 3 of 3 from long distance.
Walker scored 10 of the Hornets' first 15 points for a four-point lead with 7:35 to go in the first quarter.
NOTES: Charlotte F Nicolas Batum missed his second straight game with a strained left knee. ... Hornets players have missed 157 games this season due to injury or illness. ... Charlotte is averaging over 100 points for the first time since the 1995-96 season. ... G Jose Calderon (bruised right quadriceps) and F Kristaps Porzingis (sore right shoulder) were out for the Knicks. ... Knicks F Carmelo Anthony was held to nine points on 4-for-11 shooting at Charlotte on Jan. 23 after averaging 33.8 points over his previous five meetings. ...Charlotte rookie F Frank Kaminsky made his third start of the season.