WASHINGTON — Kemba Walker scored 47 points but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Charlotte Hornets from losing 130-126 to the Washington Wizards on Saturday.
It was the third time this season Walker was scoring at least 40 points after a 41-point performance in the defeat to the Milwaukee Bucks in the season opener in October and his 60 point production in a losing effort against the Philadelphia 76ers in November.
Saturday marked the fourth time Walker was also scoring 40 or more this season, which is one shy of his career-high five 40-plus point performances, set during the 2017-18 season.
The former Connecticut star has now scored 40 or more points 13 times in his career.
He is averaging 25.9 points per game this season and 23.8 points per game in December this campaign.
At the Capital One Arena on Saturday night, the 28-year-old seven-year pro shot 18 of 29 from the field and buried six of his nine attempts from 3-point range.
He streaked his way to a remarkable 24 of his points in the fourth quarter and almost carried Charlotte (17-18) to a stunning comeback when he connected on a 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds to play to cut the deficit to a point, with his team trailing 127-126.
However, it wasn’t to be as Trevor Ariza completed a three-point play to push the lead back to three points for the Wizards and Hornets’ Cody Zeller failed to connect on a potential game-tying long-range effort as the clock ran out.
Ariza scored 24 points to lead the way for the Wizards (14-23) who remain nine games below .500 this season.
Walker the Charlotte Hornets have dropped three of the last four games. They will seek to bounce back when they host the Orlando Magic on Monday.
