Cleveland Cavaliers at Charlotte Hornets

Grayson Allen scores 27, Naz Reid adds 25 as Hornets beat Cavaliers 124-112 to snap 6-game skid

Tidjane Salaun added 14 points off the bench and Ryan Kalkbrenner had 15 rebounds for Charlotte, which shot 23 of 46 from 3-point range.

Charlotte built a 33-point lead in the third quarter then hung on to win after the Cavaliers cut the lead to 118-110 with four minutes left.

Meleek Thomas led the way for the Cavaliers with 18 points.

The Hornets came into the game ranked second to last in the league in 3-point field goal percentage at 28.8%, but hit 12 of 24 from deep in the first half to build a 16-point halftime lead.

Allen, Reid and Salaun combined for 52 of Charlotte’s 69 points before the break.

Eager for their first win since Oct. 26, the Hornets stayed hot in the third quarter and extended the lead to 33 with Sion James knocking down three key 3s. He finished with 11.

Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson chose to play his reserves the entire fourth quarter even after his team trimmed the lead to single digits.

But the Cavaliers couldn't get any closer than eight and Royce O'Neale's 3 from the right wing with 2:40 left in the game pushed the lead to 13.

It was a big win for the Hornets. who played without starters Brandon Miller (hip strain), Kon Knueppel (hamstring) and Moussa Diabate (quadriceps).

Peyton Watson added 13 points and Jared Allen had 12 for the Cavs. James Harden and Donovan Mitchell each had 11.

Up next Cavaliers: At New York on Wednesday night.

Hornets: At Phoenix on Thursday night.

See AP’s full NBA coverage here

Regular Season Series

CHA leads series 1-0