The Charlotte Hornets managed to scrape past the San Antonio Spurs 100-97 in their first game since losing guard LaMelo Ball to a wrist injury.
Despite the absence of their primary playmaker, the Hornets were strong out of the gate offensively as they raced into a 10-point first-quarter lead.
The Spurs slowly ground their way back into the contest over the next two quarters, tying the game at 93-93 with 1:45 left on the back of a three-point play from DeMar DeRozan.
"Resiliency is about reshaping, reforming yourself and that's what we did tonight. We have enough character, talent, bodies, depth to get this done. Our guys responded and we did it together with resiliency." – Coach Borrego@sam_perley 📝: https://t.co/PGo2cKSXV4 pic.twitter.com/pAhNvnn5xp — Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) March 23, 2021
However, a deep two from Terry Rozier on the next play proved to be enough to give the Hornets their first win in four games.
Charlotte, for whom Gordon Hayward top-scored with 27 points, next face the Houston Rockets, who finally ended their 20-game losing streak with a 117-99 win over the Toronto Raptors.
John Wall recorded a triple-double of 19 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in the victory, which was sealed by a 16-point fourth-quarter surge.
Squad got the W 🚀 pic.twitter.com/8eTnLhn8ao — Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) March 23, 2021
The defeat was Toronto's ninth in succession – now the longest current losing streak in the NBA.
The Memphis Grizzlies bounced back from a sloppy fourth quarter to salvage a six-point overtime win against the Boston Celtics.
Memphis were outscored 31-23 in the fourth, but rallied behind Ja Morant to ultimately eclipse Boston 132-126.
Morant & Brooks help the @memgrizz outlast Boston in OT!@JaMorant: 29 PTS, 5 REB, 9 AST@dillonbrooks24: 24 PTS, 7 REB, 7 AST pic.twitter.com/Hfx6Ipbt7g — NBA (@NBA) March 23, 2021
Morant finished with 29 points, while team-mate Jonas Valanciunas grabbed a game-high 19 rebounds.
The Los Angeles Clippers brought the soaring Atlanta Hawks back down to earth with a 119-110 victory.
A 28-point haul from Trae Young was not enough for the Hawks, who suffered their first loss since March 1.
🦊 30 PTS🦊 6 REBS🦊 6 ASTS🦊 W 🎬 @swipathefox turned in a 𝙙𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙣𝙩 performance in the victory! pic.twitter.com/S4iftcxMs2 — Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) March 23, 2021
De'Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton combined for 58 points as the Sacramento Kings defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 119-105.
The Cavaliers were left to rue a third-quarter slump, with the loss pushing a play-off appearance further out of reach.
In the rest of the day's action, the Milwaukee Bucks and Utah Jazz cruised to dominant wins against the Indiana Pacers and Chicago Bulls respectively, while the Oklahoma City Thunder made it two in a row with a 112-103 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
