Hornets 91, Spurs 88
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Jeremy Lin scored 29 points, including the go-ahead basket in the final minute, and the Charlotte Hornets rallied from a 23-point deficit to beat the San Antonio Spurs 91-88 on Monday night.
Lin's fallaway jumper with 48.4 seconds remaining gave the Hornets the lead for good at 89-88, then he hit two free throws with 18.3 left to push the lead to three. The Hornets held on as Patty Mills and Danny Green each missed 3-pointers for the Spurs in the closing seconds.
The Hornets shot just 14.3 percent from the field while falling behind 28-7 after one quarter, and they trailed 30-7 early in the second. But they chipped away at the lead before Lin caught fire in the second half.
Lin finished 11-of-18 from the field and hit all four of his 3-point attempts.
The Hornets (40-30) also got 17 points from Courtney Lee and 15 points from Nicolas Batum. Leading scorer Kemba Walker was held to six.
The Spurs (59-11) had a six-game winning streak snapped. They had won 14 of their previous 15 games and were coming off a huge win over Golden State on Saturday.
Tony Parker led the Spurs with 19 points. LaMarcus Aldridge had 18 points and 12 rebounds, Tim Duncan had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Kawhi Leonard scored 15.
San Antonio led 51-36 at halftime and 72-67 after three quarters. The Hornets got their first lead at 75-74 on Lin's 3-pointer with 9:10 remaining, and then the teams traded the lead all the way down to the final minute.
The Hornets' win ended the Spurs 10-game winning streak against Charlotte. The Spurs had won the only previous meeting this season, 114-94 in San Antonio on Nov. 7.
NOTES: The Spurs were coming off an 87-79 win over Golden State on Saturday, which extended their home-court winning streak to 44 straight. ... San Antonio's 59-10 mark through 69 games was the best start in franchise history. The 2010-11 team was 56-13 through 69 games. ... Through the weekend, the Spurs had won 20 games this season by 20 or more points, tops in the NBA. Fifteen of the wins were by 25 or more. ... The Hornets lead the league in fewest turnovers, averaging 12.8 per game. ... The Spurs came into the game leading the NBA in field-goal percentage at 48.8 percent. ... The Hornets will play seven of their next eight games on the road. They travel to face the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday. ... The Spurs return home to face the Miami Heat on Wednesday.