NBA: Hornets shock Nuggets with a thrashing, Bulls reach 20 wins

(AFP) The Charlotte Hornets had one of their best nights of the season with a 110-87 win over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday in a 23-point day for Brandon Miller at Ball Arena (Denver).

Here are the highlights of the day in the NBA:

Nuggets, goodbye to winning streak

Despite the absence of Nikola Jokic due to injury, the Nuggets managed to put together a streak of four consecutive victories until they were unable to find effectiveness from the field and succumbed to the Hornets who are twelfth in the Eastern Conference.

Charlotte led the way to victory from a first quarter in which they opened up a 33-18 lead.

Defensively it was a perfect night for the team led by Charles Hill, limiting the Nuggets to just 24 points in the first half.

The Hornets led by as many as 33 points while shooting 33 of 89 from the field (49 percent). The perfect complement was an inspired Brandon Miller, who scored 23 points to go along with four rebounds.

For the Nuggets, Jamal Murray scored 16 points and was his team's top scorer on a night of little activity due to the visitors' dominance on the scoreboard.

Bulls reach 20 wins on the season.

The Chicago Bulls cruised to a 124-102 victory over the Brooklyn Nets and reached 20 wins for the 2025-26 season.

Coby White became the game's big man scoring seven of his 11 attempts from the three-point line en route to a career-high 24 points, four rebounds and three assists.

White, 25, came within two of tying his personal record for three-pointers in a game.

Chicago led by as many as 27 points on a night when they also dominated the paint, scoring 58 of their 124 points.

For the Nets, Nolan Traore was the leading scorer with 16 points followed by Jalen Wilson with 14, both off the bench. Brooklyn was unable to win at the United Center (Chicago) and now has 13 losses away from home.

Ayton and Doncic lead Lakers against Raptors

The Los Angeles Lakers closed Sunday's action with a 110-93 win over the Toronto Raptors at Crypto.com Arena.

Center Deandre Ayton stood out with a double-double of 25 points and 13 rebounds. He also had a perfect 33 minutes passing scoring on all 10 of his attempts from the field.

Luka Doncic matched Ayton's 25 points while LeBron James added 24, including two three-pointers on four attempts. Toronto lost back-to-back games for the first time since Dec. 20-21.

The Canadian squad had Scottie Barnes as its leading scorer with 22 points while Sandro Mamukelashvili contributed 20 off the bench.