The Hornets blasted the Mavericks to get back to .500.

Brandon Miller scored 17 points as Charlotte used his strong outside shooting to win 117-90 over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night, giving the Hornets their fifth straight win.

LaMelo Ball’s 15 points, along with contributions from Kon Knueppel (13 points), Sion James (13 points), Grant Williams (12), Miles Bridges (11), Josh Green (11) and Ryan Kalkbrenner (10), provided a balanced attack for the Hornets as they won 15 of their last 18 games. Charlotte made 20 of 51 3-pointers, led by Ball and Williams with four each.

Brandon Williams led the Mavericks with 18 points (10 on free throws), but couldn’t overcome his terrible 3-point shooting (3-for-22). PJ Washington had 13 points, Dwight Powell had 12 off the bench, Max Christie had 11 and Daniel Gafford had 10.

There was no rookie showdown between the former Duke teammates as Dallas forward Cooper Flagg, who has been sidelined for more than three weeks, remains out with a foot injury. Kneuppel didn’t come close to his 34 points in a two-point win at Dallas in late January.

Charlotte finished with a .500 record at 31-31. This is the first time since the 2021-22 season that the Hornets have posted a batting average above .500 in March.

Ball’s efforts included nine assists, five rebounds and five steals.

The Hornets shot better on 3-pointers (39.2%) than Dallas shot from the floor (37.8%). The Mavericks, who also did not have Klay Thompson injured, benefited from 31-for-42 free throw shooting. No Dallas player has made more than one 3-pointer.

The Hornets connected on six 3-pointers in the first quarter to take a 31-23 lead after Dallas went 0-for-6 on long-range attempts. The Mavericks didn’t have a 3-pointer until the second quarter when Hornet Washington hit a shot from beyond the arc.

Charlotte’s lead was 57-48 at halftime. The Mavericks were down in the second half, scoring just 18 fourth quarter points.

Both teams were guilty of 14 turnovers by the end of the game.

–Field level media