ATLANTA — — Dejounte Murray made a season-high seven three-pointers while scoring 28 points and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Charlotte Hornets 132-91 Saturday night to strengthen their grip on last place in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament.
Bruno Fernando scored a career-high 25 points and Garrison Mathews had 20 for Atlanta, which opened a five-game homestand with its first home win against Charlotte since Nov. 20, 2021. The Hornets won victories in the first two games of the season series.
Murray finished 7 of 9 from 3 and set a season high with 12 assists.
The Hawks are 5 1/2 games ahead of No. 11 Brooklyn for 10th place in the East.
Miles Bridges scored 27 points for the Hornets, who have lost four straight and 11 of 13. Brandon Miller had 13 points while Nick Richards added 12 points with a season-high 16 rebounds. Vasa Micic scored eight points, ending his 10-game double-digit scoring streak.
Hawks All-Star point guard Trae Young (finger) missed his 14th consecutive game as the most prominent member of the team’s long injury list. Forward Onyeka Okongwu (left big toe) was held out after playing the final two games of a five-game road trip.
Okongwu missed 13 straight games with a toe injury before returning to the road. Coach Quin Snyder did not say before the game whether Okongwu aggravated the injury.
Fernando helped fill the void left by Okongwu’s injury. Fernando tied his career high of 19 points with a powerful one-handed jam to open the fourth quarter. He set his career high with a short jumper two minutes later.
Forward Jalen Johnson sprained his right ankle during Monday’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. He missed 16 games with a broken wrist earlier in the season and is expected to miss at least a week with an ankle injury.
Hornets forward JT Thor (left shoulder) did not play.
After the final tie at 39, the Hawks closed the first half with a 27-9 run to lead 66-48 at halftime.
FOLLOWING
Hornets: Visit Cleveland Monday night.
Hawks: Host Boston Monday night in the first of two games in four days against the Celtics, who travel to Atlanta again Thursday night.
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