Covington Leads 76ers To 4th Straight Home Win
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Robert Covington scored 11 of his game-high 22 points in a pivotal third quarter, leading the Philadelphia 76ers to an 89-81 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday night.
It Philadelphia's fourth straight home victory after opening the season 3-18 on its home floor. The last time the 76ers won a fourth in a row at home was on March 30, 2013, when they defeated the then Charlotte Bobcats.
Hollis Thompson added 18 points for Philadelphia, which next plays Monday against Pacific Division-leading Golden State.
Al Jefferson had 18 points and Gerald Henderson 17 for Charlotte, which lost for just the fourth time in 16 games.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist did not return after leaving with a right hamstring strain with 5:24 left in the first half.
Michael Carter-Williams missed his second straight game with a right toe injury, and Philadelphia earned its first win in 11 games without its starting point guard in the lineup. Carter-Williams' injury pressed Tim Frazier into the starting lineup. Frazier, signed to a 10-day contract on Thursday, had 11 assists in his NBA debut in Philadelphia's 107-96 loss at Boston on Friday.
After a slow start, Frazier finished with eight assists while going scoreless.
Philadelphia pulled ahead with a big third quarter, outscoring the Hornets by 15 points to take a 70-61 lead. Charlotte went just 3 for 17 from the field in the period.
The 76ers, who trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half, took their first lead since early in the game on Luc Mbah a Moute's layup that made it 53-52 with 6 ½ minutes left in the third. And then Philadelphia got hot, scoring 14 of the next 19 points, capped by Jerami Grant's layup with 2:01 left in the period, to take their largest lead at 70-57. The Hornets scored the last four points of the quarter to enter the final period down nine.
Charlotte never got closer than five in the final quarter.
Covington finished 7 for 15 from the field, including 5 for 10 from 3-point range.
The Hornets took their biggest lead on Henderson's 3-pointer from the right corner that made it 46-30 with 3:23 left in the first half. But Philadelphia closed the half by outscoring Charlotte 12-2 to make it 48-42 at the break.
TIP-INS
Hornets: Assistant coach Patrick Ewing sat in the same seats as his college team, Georgetown, did earlier Saturday in a 69-53 loss to Villanova. . Henderson, a Philadelphia-area native whose dad played for the 76res, entered shooting 33.3 percent from the field in his career in Philadelphia.
76ers: Frazier is just one of six players since 1985-86 to record 10 or more assists in his NBA debut. . The 76ers also snapped a streak of 21 straight defeats without Carter-Williams in the lineup dating back to last season.
UP NEXT
Hornets: host Indiana on Sunday.
76ers: host Golden State on Monday
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