Hornets eye fourth straight win vs. visiting Kings

The Charlotte Hornets have pulled above .500.

Staying in that category is the key going forward.

The Hornets, who've won three games in a row, take on the visiting Sacramento Kings on Monday night at Charlotte, N.C.

"I feel like we always bring each other up," Hornets guard LaMelo Ball said.

The Hornets, who conclude a three-game homestand Monday, have had a different leading scorer in each game of the current win streak. Ball topped the Hornets with 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists in Saturday night's victory against the Toronto Raptors.

"The challenge is can we consistently play at this level," said Charlotte coach James Borrego, whose team holds a 19-18 record. "That's the goal and the challenge right now. ... The ball movement was fantastic. We weren't getting good shots. We were getting great shots."

The Hornets have been rolling for various reasons. For instance, they hit 21 shots from beyond the 3-point arc in the 114-104 conquering of the Raptors. That matched a season-high total for 3s.

"Just hunting more 3s because we have good shooters so we have to get more up," Hornets guard Devonte' Graham said.

The Kings, who hold the third-worst record in the Western Conference, have been on a relative upswing. They had won two of three games before falling 121-106 on Saturday night at Atlanta.

The stopover in Charlotte marks the second game of Sacramento's six-game road trip against teams in the Eastern Conference.

De'Aaron Fox leads the Kings with 23.5 points per game after posting 32 points in the loss at Atlanta. He has reached the 30-point mark in three consecutive games.

Many of the problems that have hurt the Kings continue to exist.

"Until we get better at playing defense, it's going to be hard to win," Sacramento coach Luke Walton said after the loss to the Hawks.

This is a rematch of a Feb. 28 game in Sacramento, where the Hornets won 127-126 when Malik Monk converted a three-point play with 1.4 seconds remaining. PJ Washington provided a career-high 42 points that night for the Hornets.

The Hornets have transitioned to playing in front of fans for home games across the past week. This will mark the second such outing with about 3,000 fans permitted inside the arena.

So that's another bonus for the Hornets, who'll have five straight road games after the matchup with the Kings.

"It was like NBA basketball is back," Borrego said. "That's what it felt like. For me, but mostly for my guys. Our players, they felt it and they played off of it."

For fans, these games mark the first in-person glimpses of Ball, a rookie who has provided some dazzling outings.

"The energy was there," Ball said.

With 44 points in the first quarter Saturday, Charlotte set a franchise record for 3-pointers in a quarter by making 11.

But what might have made the Hornets most pleased is that while the shooting accuracy wasn't maintained at that rate, the overall performance didn't stop there.

"I feel like we played the full 48 (minutes)," Graham said.

--Field Level Media