LaMelo Ball scores 34 points as the Hornets defeat the Rockets

LaMelo Ball had 34 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds as the visiting Charlotte Hornets opened the season by erasing an 18-point first-half deficit to cruise to a 110-105 victory over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday.

Ball carried the Hornets home down the stretch and followed up his errant 3-pointer with a second-chance basket for a 100-98 lead with 2:10 left. Ball added a 3-pointer 30 seconds later before assisting on a Grant Williams trey with 40.3 seconds left that broke a 103-103 deadlock.

Tre Mann scored 24 points off the bench in Charlotte, terrorizing the Rockets' defense off the dribble en route to 8-for-16 shooting, which included 4-for-8 from 3-point range.

Ball made all ten of his free throw attempts and Miles Bridges contributed ten points and nine assists for the Hornets.

Jalen Green led the Rockets with 28 points, while Alperen Sengun added 25 points and 18 rebounds. Fred VanVleet scored 14 points and Amen Thompson scored all 13 points in the first half for Houston, which shot just 13 of 43 (30.2 percent) from long range.

Charlotte turned a 10-0 run that bridged the third and fourth periods into an 85-83 lead when Ball fed Bridges for an alley-oop in transition. Green responded with five consecutive points to put the Rockets back on top, but the Hornets kept providing answers.

Green and Sengun scored the Rockets' first 16 points and combined to provide an immediate response to a six-point shot from Charlotte's Brandon Miller that gave the Hornets a 12-10 lead. Thompson sank two free throws at the 3:36 mark, giving the Rockets their first points from anyone other than Sengun and Green.

Sengun grabbed 11 rebounds in the first quarter, a career-high for a while.

Green, Thompson and Sengun combined to score all 26 points in the first quarter for Houston, which extended its 26-21 lead to 58-40 early in the second period when Sengun hit a three-pointer with 2:31 left in the half achieved. Ball then sparked a 9-2 run that ended the half and produced two free throws, a floater and an assist in transition to cut the deficit to 60-49 at the break.

Miller (left hip pain) scored six points in 11 minutes of the first half but did not return after halftime.

–Field level media