D'Angelo Russell scored 40 points, including 12 straight down the stretch, and the Brooklyn Nets pulled out a 117-115 victory over the host Charlotte Hornets in a bizarre game Saturday night.

The Nets blew a 19-point second half lead and eventually had to come back from an eight-point deficit in the final four minutes. Russell's 3-pointer with 39.8 seconds remaining gave the Nets the lead for good, and then no foul was called in a controversial ending when Charlotte's Kemba Walker appeared to draw contact from Caris LeVert on a 3-point attempt at the buzzer.

The victory allowed the Nets to expand their lead over the Hornets to two games in the chase for the Eastern Conference's No. 6 playoff spot.

Russell, who was celebrating his 23rd birthday, was 14 of 31 from the field and hit six 3-pointers. The Nets, who hit 17 triples for the game, also got 19 points from Joe Harris, 11 points and 11 rebounds from Jarrett Allen, and 10 points each from DeMarre Carroll and Shabazz Napier.

Walker led the Hornets with 32 points, including 13 straight Charlotte points in the third quarter when the Hornets got back into the game. Tony Parker scored 21, Nicolas Batum scored 14, Cody Zeller had 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Marvin Williams scored 11.

The Nets led 34-20 after one period. They pushed the lead up to 39-21 early in the second and went on to lead 63-50 at halftime. Brooklyn then scored the first six points of the third quarter to go up 69-50, but the Hornets roared back behind the shooting of Walker to cut the lead to 90-84 after three quarters.

Charlotte used a 26-4 run to take the lead at 98-94, and Walker's 3-pointer pushed their lead all the way to 111-103 with 3:12 remaining. But Russell took over at that point. His 16-footer with 59.3 seconds put Brooklyn up 114-113, and after a Walker drive put the Hornets back up by one, Russell delivered again with the game-winning 3-pointer.

This was the third game between the teams this season. They had split the previous two, each winning at home. They will meet again in Brooklyn next Friday.

The Hornets were playing the second game of a four-game homestand, part of a stretch with seven of eight games at home. They will host Golden State on Monday night.

The Nets will return to Brooklyn to host San Antonio on Monday.

--Field Level Media