Walker's 30 help Hornets score comeback victory
MINNEAPOLIS -- Kemba Walker scored 30 points and Nicolas Batum added 16 to key the Charlotte Hornets' second-half comeback in a 115-108 victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Walker made 12 of 19 shots in scoring at least 20 points for the ninth straight game. He had six assists to surpass 2,000 in his career and added five steals and five rebounds. Frank Kaminsky came off the bench to score 20 points and hit three 3-pointers for Charlotte (7-3), which had lost back-to-back games against Toronto and Cleveland.
Andrew Wiggins scored 29 points for Minnesota (3-7). The Timberwolves hit 15 3-pointers, but Minnesota had 18 turnovers resulting in 20 points for Charlotte.
The Timberwolves led by 12 at halftime but the third quarter has been their downfall this season, while the Hornets have thrived out of the break.
Charlotte entered the game with the league's best third-quarter scoring differential at plus-7.1 points. Minnesota was last at minus-8. The Timberwolves' 12-point advantage quickly faded as the trends held.
The Hornets opened the quarter with a 15-2 run to take their first lead since the end of the first quarter. Batum scored 11 in the third and Walker added 10 points as Charlotte outscored Minnesota by 19 in the period.
The Timberwolves stayed in striking distance in the fourth behind Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns, who finished with 21 points. Minnesota tried to keep their luck going from outside, but went 6 of 16 from 3 in the fourth.
Wiggins could have cut the lead to one possession but made 1 of 2 from the free-throw line with 44 seconds left and Kaminsky was left open for a dunk on the other end for a 112-106 lead.
Walker's standout season continued even after he left the game following the first quarter because his back tightened up. He scored 12 of the Hornets' 31 points in the first. He went back to the locker room with the team's training staff to stretch out his back and returned later in the second.
NOTES: Timberwolves G Zach LaVine returned to the starting lineup after missing one game with a sore right knee and scored 19 points. ... Minnesota F Shabazz Muhammad (sore right knee) missed his second straight game and G/F Brandon Rush (sprained right big toe) was held out of his third straight contest. ... Hornets associate head coach Patrick Ewing missed his second straight game due to illness, according to the team's PR Twitter account. ... Over the previous four games, Minnesota averaged 115.8 points per game and was shooting 46 percent from 3-point range, the best four-game run in team history. ... Timberwolves C Karl-Anthony Towns turned 21 years old Tuesday. Only Dwight Howard (105) and Andre Drummond (66) had more career double-doubles before turning 21 than Towns' 57. ... Charlotte started the night fourth in the league in defensive field goal percentage at 43 percent and defensive 3-point percentage at 31.9 percent.