Hornets Top Wiz At Buzzer

Elden Campbell missed eight of his first 11 shots from the field, then made amends with the game on the line.

Campbell's 18-foot turnaround jumper over Aaron Williams as time expired capped a wild finish and lifted the Charlotte Hornets over the Washington Wizards 107-105 Monday night.

"The play was designed for (Eddie Jones) first and Elden second because we knew that we would be able to get the ball inside to Elden," Hornets coach Paul Silas said. "After (Campbell) set the pick, we thought they would switch a smaller man on him and he would get a better look. But they didn't do that and Elden hit a tough shot."

Jones scored 26 points and David Wesley had 21 for the Hornets, who swept the three-game season series from the Wizards. Charlotte has won two straight games and nine of 11.

"It's happened so many times to us this year ... and it still happened again," Hamilton said after the Wizards' fourth last-second loss this season.

The game was tied at 103 when Hamilton missed a pair of free throws with 59.6 seconds left. Charlotte missed two shots on the ensuing possession, but gained two clock resets on a pair of key rebounds before Anthony Mason hit a 10-footer with 2.8 seconds left for a 105-103 lead.

Wizards coach Darrell Walker accepted Campbell's game-winning shot, but not his team's lack of rebounding on the Hornets' next-to-last possession, where one rebound could have sealed a victory.

"We didn't box out and put a body on someone because we were afraid of contact," Walker said. "That can happen once, but it can't happen two and three times if you expect to win the basketball game."

Mason finished with 19 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.

Charlotte's Derrick Coleman, who had 16 points and 16 rebounds, fouled Washington's Mitch Richmond on the ensuing in-bounds play and Richmond hit both free throws, tying the game at 105 and setting up Campbell's game-winner off Wesley's in-bounds feed.

"You don't even have a chance to think about it," said Campbell, who scored 15 points. "You just turn and let your muscle memory make sure you get a good shot up. Just shoot it like you shoot it every day."

Chris Whitney had 14 points and 10 assists for the Wizards, but spent much of the fourth quarter on the bench after drawing his fifth foul.

Charlotte led 30-25 lead after one quarter and 55-49 at halftime.

Whitney's 3-pointer, in the midst of a 10-2 spurt, gave Washington its first lead with 8:24 left in the third quarter.

Coleman's short baseline jumper restored Charlotte's lead at 72-71 with 2:20 remaining in the third. After Jones' fadeaway shot from the left corner gave the Hornets an 83-79 lead 2:08 into the fourth quarter, Washington went on a 10-2 run.

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