Hornets dominate from the start, beat Nuggets for first time in nine tries
Brandon Miller scored 23 points and the Charlotte Hornets went wire-to-wire, leading by as many as 33 points in beating the host Denver Nuggets 110-87 on Sunday night.
Hornets rookie Ryan Kalkbrenner tied a career high with 17 points, while teammates Collin Sexton and Kon Knueppel finished with 14 points each. Tidjane Salaun had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, and LaMelo Ball contributed 10 for Charlotte, which snapped an eight-game losing streak against Denver.
The Nuggets tied a season low for total points, having lost at home to the Atlanta Hawks on Jan. 9 by the same final score.
Jamal Murray led Denver with 16 points but came out of the game with 5:24 left in the third quarter. Julian Strawther scored 15 points, Jalen Pickett contributed 12 and Peyton Watson 11 for the Nuggets
Denver continued to be without center Nikola Jokic (left knee), forward Cameron Johnson (right knee), center Jonas Valanciunas (right calf) and guard Christian Braun (left ankle). Forward Aaron Gordon joined them in street clothes for injury management on his right hamstring.
The Nuggets missed 22 of their first 24 3-pointers and finished 8-for-38 (21.1%) from deep.
Charlotte jumped out to a 22-9 lead midway through the first quarter and by 18 late in the period. Denver's Tim Hardaway Jr. made three free throws to open the second quarter to cut the deficit to 33-21, but the Hornets went on a 12-2 run to expand their advantage to 45-23 with 6:03 left in the first half.
They stretched the lead to 23 points on Miller's 3-pointer at the 3:28 mark. Miles Bridges closed out the half with a three-point play to make it 60-34 at halftime.
Denver's 34 points in the first half are a season low and the fewest it has scored in the first 24 minutes in more than 11 years.
Charlotte maintained the big lead throughout the third quarter, going ahead by 29 on Ball's 3-pointer with 9:49 left in the third. The Hornets scored nine points in the final two minutes of the third to lead 87-57 entering the fourth.