Kemba Walker scored a season-high 30 points and the Charlotte Hornets improved their best start in 16 years to 4-1 by beating the Nets 99-95 on Friday night.
Nicolas Batum added 18 points and nine rebounds, while Marvin Williams, who missed his first 10 shots, made a 3-pointer with 1:05 left after the Nets had cut the lead to one point.
Reserve Sean Kilpatrick scored 19 points for the Nets, who didn't have starting point guard Jeremy Lin available to face his former team because of a strained left hamstring that will keep him sidelined for at least two weeks.
Brook Lopez added 18 points and Trevor Booker had 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Nets, who because of injuries had to turn to rookie Isaiah Whitehead, a second-round pick out of Seton Hall, to make his first career start.
The Brooklyn native finished with eight points but the best point guard in the game, and from New York, was Walker, who shot 11 for 22 and also grabbed six rebounds.
The Nets had a 13-point lead in the first half and were still ahead 55-43 early in the third before Walker and Cody Zeller, who played just five minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, turned it around. Walker's basket capped an 18-3 run that gave Charlotte a 61-58 lead and it remained a three-point game going to the fourth quarter.
It remained close across the final period and the lead was down to 92-91 when Williams nailed a 3 from the corner. Walker followed with a free throw to make it 96-91 and the Nets never got closer than three points again.
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TIP-INS
Hornets: Walker and Batum each scored 11 points in the first quarter. Charlotte's only other point was a free throw by Ramon Sessions. ... The Hornets followed their 4-1 start in 2000-01 by losing their next five games. They finished 46-36.
Nets: Brooklyn was also without guards Greivis Vasquez (sore right ankle) and Randy Foye (strained right hamstring). ... Kilpatrick entered as the NBA's top-scoring reserve with 16.6 points per game.
LIN LEFT
Lin averaged 11.7 points last season in Charlotte as the backup to Walker and sometimes playing alongside him when the Hornets played two point guards. That got his career back on track after disappointing stints with Houston and the Lakers, but Hornets coach Steve Clifford understood why he took the Nets' three-year, $36 million offer in July. "I think he was happy but I think there's two parts. One, he had a terrific year and so the chance to be a starter, obviously and then the money," Clifford said. "I mean, those are always going to be the two factors, what role are you going to play and the money."
UP NEXT
Hornets: Begin a three-game homestand Monday against Indiana.
Nets: Host Minnesota on Tuesday to end a four-game homestand. They begin a five-game trip the next night.
