Hornets take advantage of Trail Blazers’ horrible 3-point shooting in 93-80 victory

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Nick Richards had 21 points and 10 rebounds and the Charlotte Hornets took advantage of Portland’s horrible 3-point shooting to beat the Trail Blazers 93-80 on Sunday night.

Portland was 3 of 32 from 3-point range, with two of the makes coming in the final minutes. The Trail Blazers missed 23 in a row at one point in dropping their eighth straight to fall to 15-41.

“We got a lot of open shots,” said Portland’s Anfernee Simons, who all eight of his 3-point tries.. “I got a lot of good looks, and they just didn’t fall. Just one of those days for everybody.”

Miles Bridges added 18 points and 10 rebounds for Charlotte, and Brandon Miller had 17 points. The Hornets improved to 15-42.

“Our defense was good,” Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. “Right now, everybody’s trying. If they try hard and you have a feel for the game, you can be OK. And right now, we have really good basketball IQ.”

Deandre Ayton led Portland with 26 points and 19 rebounds. He was 11 of 16 from the field, while the Trail Blazers shot 34.7% overall from the field.

Jerami Grant added 15 points for Portland. Simons had 10 points on 4-of-21 shooting.