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NBA -- Hornets escape Sixers, keep playoff hopes alive By Eric Biasbas PhilBoxing.com Tue, 07 Apr 2015 CHARLOTTE -- The Charlotte Hornets narrowly defeated the lowly Philadelphia Sixers, 92-91 on Saturday night at the Time Warner Cable Arena. Kemba Walker led the Hornets with 24 points but it was Gerald Henderson's last play that sealed the outcome of the game. With 23.1 second left and the Sixers on top, 91-90, Mo Williams missed a three point attempt and the Hornets was forced to foul guard Ish Smith to stop the clock. Smith, a career 58 percent FT shooter, missed both charities that could have iced the game. The Hornets called timeout to set up the last play. With the crowd of 17,286 on their feet, Gerald Henderson received the inbound pass near mid court, drove hard and made the contested lay up that gave them the lead 92-91 with six seconds left. In the ensuing play, Ish Smith missed a lay up as time expired. "Kemba set a back screen for me. It was really designed for a jumpshot but they switched it under so I just saw the wide open lane and just took it and finished." Henderson said of the play. "I think we played 47 minutes and 30 seconds of good basketball and then at the end.. that's what takes you to a different level as a player, closing out games. I didn't do it tonight." Smith said. It was a tight game from the start as neither team led by more than 8 points. There were 17 lead changes and the count was tied 14 times. The Hornets played without their three main players, Al Jefferson, (knee) Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (ankle) and Cody Zeller (shoulder). The Sixers' Nerlens Noel suffered a laceration on his lower right eyelid early in the second quarter and did not return. He was hit by Noah Vonleh's elbow as he was trying to defend a putback dunk. The Sixers had a season high 14 blocked shots but shot only 72 percent from the free throw line while the Hornets shot 91 percent. Overall, Sixers' head coach Brett Brown was not disappointed. " I thought we played hard. I don't have many complaints. I am proud of the way these guys fought." Mo Williams scored 18 points for the hornets, Marvin Williams added 11 while Henderson finished with 7 points. The Sixers were paced by Smith and Robert Covington with 15 point apiece. The Hornets improved to 33-43, one and a half game behind Boston Celtics (35-42) for eight place in the Eastern Conference with six games remaining in the season. The Sixers fell to 18-59. The Hornets will be on the road to meet the Miami Heat on Tuesday while the Sixers will visit the New York Knicks on Sunday. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eric Biasbas. |
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