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Hornets close out Wizards

Feb 6, 2015 - 3:12 AM Charlotte, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - Gerald Henderson scored 27 points on an efficient 10-of-15 shooting to lead the Charlotte Hornets to a 94-87 win over the Washington Wizards on Thursday night.

Brian Roberts scored all 12 of his points in the second half for the Hornets, who overcame an 11-point deficit late in the third to win their third straight game, including back-to-back games against Washington.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Lance Stephenson and Jason Maxiell each posted 11 points in the win, with Maxiell blocking a career-high seven shots.

The Wizards have dropped five straight games for the first time since they closed the 2012-13 season with six straight losses.

Paul Pierce paced Washington with 19 points and John Wall registered 15 points with 13 assists in the loss. Wizards guard Bradley Beal left the game after just 11 minutes of action with soreness in his right big toe.

"You can just take my quotes from the last four games. It's a broken record," said Washington coach Randy Wittman. "It's the same thing over and over again... I don't know. I can't answer. We just came out differently in the second half."

Charlotte, which outrebounded the Wizards 18-6 in the final quarter, tied the game early in the fourth with a 7-0 burst, and the score remained close the rest of the way.

Al Jefferson scored six straight points later in the quarter, then Kidd- Gilchrist added a pair of free throws before Roberts capped a 10-0 run with a jumper for a 90-83 lead.

Pierce answered with a 3-pointer that ended over four minutes of scoreless basketball for the visitors. Charlotte sealed the win with a pair of offensive rebounds in the final 1:03 of the game. Kidd-Gilchrist picked up the last of the two, diving on the floor and calling a timeout with 35.9 seconds left.

The Wizards opened the second half with an elongated 6-0 run, as Charlotte was held without a point for the first 4:07 until Henderson's jumper ended the drought. Washington led by 11 late in the third when Roberts scored the final five points of an 8-2 run to help the Hornets get within 74-69 entering the fourth.

"The first half to me, (the players) know it, that's not our game," Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. "We had no energy. In the second half, our defense was really good."

Maxiell and Stephenson were the only two players who contributed points to a 13-2 run late in the first quarter for Charlotte. Stephenson buried three 3- pointers, including the final two treys that capped the run for a 32-25 lead.

Wall raced up the court in the closing seconds and converted a layup just before the buzzer to cut the deficit to 34-30 after 12 minutes.

Washington's reserves helped it regain the lead early in the second quarter, going on a 13-0 run for a 45-39 edge by the midway point. The Wizards brought a 54-49 lead into the locker room at half.

Game Notes

Charlotte has won five straight in the series ... Washington scored 18 points off 17 Hornets turnovers ... Charlotte went 6-of-25 (24 percent) from beyond the arc, but it converted 81.5 percent from the free throw line compared to the Wizards' 70.6 percent success rate from the stripe ... Jefferson had a game-high 10 rebounds ... There were 11 lead changes and nine ties.