The Washington Wizards were overmatched in the second half thanks to LaMelo Ball's game-high 37 points in a 129-112 loss on Sunday night.
For the first time since the 2009-10 season, the Charlotte Hornets have swept the season series against the Washington Wizards.
Washington held off early Charlotte runs, but eventually were overrun by the LaMelo Ball show in the third quarter en route to a 129-112 loss at home.
LeMelo Ball led the way with 37 points on 12-of-20 shooting with Kon Knueppel adding 28 points on 55% shooting and Brandon Miller adding 22 points on 57% shooting.
Charlotte also finished with 25 made threes with the Hornets shooting 54% from deep.
Bilal Coulibaly led the way after doing his damage in the first quarter, eventually finishing with 17 points in 17 minutes on 6-of-9 shooting and adding two blocks. Kyshawn George added 13 points in 18 minutes while Jaden Hardy added 16 points in 21 minutes behind four made threes. Tre Johnson and Will Riley both finished with 11 points while Jamir Watkins added 13 points behind three made threes in the loss.
Coulibaly scored the Wizards' first 11 points of the game before the Hornets began gaining searly separation with a lead as big as 12, but the Wizards would trim away before a three from Alondes Williams tying the game at 35 inside one minute left of the first quarter. Will Riley would then give the Wizards a brief lead with a layup with just five seconds left, but it was enough time for Brandon Ingram to beat the buzzer with a deep three to hand Washington a 38-37 deficit after one.
Charlotte opened the second quarter on a 6-0 run before opening up a 49-39 lead after four minutes, but an and-one from Sharife Cooper after hitting a floater through contact would stop the bleeding. Washington would find itself once again fighting off a double digit deficit before trimming down to four points with 90 seconds left before a pair of free throws from Will Riley made it a two-point game before the Wizards eventually took a 61-56 deficit into the break with Coulibaly sidelined for the entirety of the second quarter.
With Coulibaly back on the floor to open the second half, Charlotte opened the second half with a quick 9-0 run before growing the lead to 16 midway through the third quarter before head coach Brian Keefe called timeout, but that wouldn't stop the bleeding as LaMelo Ball went seemingly unconscious through the third quarter to fuel a growing deficit to 22 points before an and-one for Kyshawn George got .
But Washington was not able to do anything if at all defensively even with Ball on the bench as Charlotte began flit gin with a 30 point lead into the opening minutes, heading to the mid-quarter timeout down 124-95.
With Washington now 16-40 on the season, they will return to action on Tuesday, Feb. 24 in the first of two consecutive road games against Atlanta for a 7:30 PM tipoff, marking the first game between the two teams since the trade that sent Trae Young to Washington.