Kon Knueppel sets Hornets’ season 3-point record in a 127-107 win over the Suns

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Miles Bridges scored 25 points, rookie Kon Knueppel set a franchise record for 3-pointers in a season and finished with 20 points as the Charlotte Hornets rolled past the Phoenix Suns 127-107 on Thursday night.

Coby White added 19 points and LaMelo Ball had 15 points and 11 assists for the Hornets, who have won seven of nine. Brandon Miller added 17 points.

Knueppel, the No. 4 overall pick from Duke, made four 3s to give him 261, breaking the previous record of 260 set by Kemba Walker in the 2018-19 season. Knueppel broke the record with a corner 3 after missing two open looks earlier in the fourth quarter.

Earlier in the game, Phoenix’s Collin Gillespie set the Suns’ franchise record for 3s in a season, eclipsing the mark of 226 held by Quentin Richardson in the 2004-05 season. Gillespie finished with two 3s and six points.

Jalen Green had 25 points and Devin Booker added 22 for the Suns, who have lost six of their past seven road games.

PISTONS 113, TIMBERWOLVES 108

DETROIT (AP) — Jalen Duren had 22 points and 14 rebounds, Daniss Jenkins scored 26 points and Detroit beat Minnesota as both teams were without a superstar.

Minnesota ruled out All-Star guard Anthony Edwards, listing his right knee injury and an illness, about 90 minutes before tipoff. The Pistons announced earlier in the day that Cade Cunningham would be out at least another week to recover from a collapsed left lung.

Edwards and Cunningham will be ineligible for NBA postseason awards because they can’t reach the 65-game minimum.

The Pistons went on an 11-0 run midway through the fourth quarter to take control and improved to 7-2 without Cunningham since March 17.

Minnesota’s Julius Randle finished with 27 points, Ayo Dosunmu and Naz Reid scored 19 points each and Mike Conley scored all 14 of his points in the first half.

Detroit’s Ausar Thompson, the Eastern Conference defensive player of the month, had a career-high nine assists to go along with nine rebounds and seven points.

THUNDER 139, LAKERS 96

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points, and Oklahoma City routed Los Angeles in a game in which NBA leading scorer Luka Doncic left due to injury.

Only six times in their storied history have the Lakers been defeated by more points. They fell six points short of their worst margin of defeat ever — a 49-point loss to the Dallas Mavericks in 2017.

Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning league MVP, got the best of his matchup with Doncic — one of Gilgeous-Alexander’s top competitors for this season’s award. Doncic had scored at least 40 points in five of his previous seven games, but he finished with 12 points on 3-for-10 shooting from the field and 1-for-7 shooting from 3-point range against the Thunder’s suffocating defense.

Doncic left the game with a left hamstring injury in the middle of the third quarter. Lakers coach JJ Redick said he will have an MRI on Friday.

Austin Reaves scored 15 points and LeBron James added 13 for the Lakers.

CAVALIERS 118, WARRIORS 111

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Donovan Mitchell had 25 points and six rebounds, Max Strus’ 3-pointer with 54 seconds left helped seal it as he scored 24, and Cleveland beat Golden State.

James Harden contributed 19 points and five assists as the Cavs won for the seventh time in nine games during a stretch playing five times in eight nights.

Gui Santos and Brandin Podziemski scored 25 points apiece for the Warriors, who were missing Stephen Curry for the 27th straight game but his return could come as soon as Sunday. He scrimmaged 5-on-5 for the third time in as many days to test his injured right knee that has sidelined him since Jan. 30.

Coach Steve Kerr said Curry and Vice President of Player Health and Performance Rick Celebrini might decide as soon as Friday based on how Curry feels a day later whether he can return to face the Rockets.

With 9:28 left, Cleveland’s Dennis Schroder made a hard foul from behind on a driving LJ Cryer and it was reviewed and ruled a Flagrant 1 for his leap and kick into the Warriors guard. Draymond Green was called for a technical on the play after he shoved Schroder while helping Cryer up from the floor.

TRAIL BLAZIERS 118, PELICANS 106

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Jrue Holiday had 27 points, including seven 3-pointers, and Portland downed New Orleans.

Deni Avdija added 26 points for the Blazers, who have won three straight and eight of their last 10 games. Toumani Camara finished with 23 points.

Jeremiah Fears had 21 points off the bench for the Pelicans, who have lost 11 of their last 12 games.

After trailing at the half, the Blazers went up 106-96 on Holiday’s deep 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter. His 3 with 1:21 left made it 116-105 and all but sealed it for Portland. Holiday finished with nine assists.

The Blazers have already clinched a play-in game. The team sits a half-game back of the eighth-place Clippers. If the Blazers can move into eighth, they’d have to win one game to advance to the playoffs, whereas in ninth, they’d have to win two.

SPURS 118, CLIPPERS 99

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — De’Aaron Fox scored 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting, and San Antonio beat Los Angeles without Victor Wembanyama in the lineup to win their 11th in a row.

Wembanyama was rested on the second night of a back-to-back. He had 41 points and 18 rebounds in a 127-113 win at the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday.

The Spurs had six players in double figures, including Stephon Castle with 20 points and Dylan Harper with 19 off the bench.

San Antonio kept alive its hopes of catching Oklahoma City for the top spot in the West. The Spurs improved to 27-2 since Feb. 1 and 11-5 when Wembanyama doesn’t play.

Kawhi Leonard scored 24 points to lead the Clippers with his 53rd consecutive game of 20 or more points. Bennedict Mathurin added 18 points off the bench and John Collins had 15. The loss dropped them to the ninth spot for the play-in tournament with their second straight loss after winning five in a row. Portland moved into eighth after a 118-106 win.