Kemba Walker scored 25 points, and the Charlotte Hornets took control in the second quarter while recording a 123-112 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night in New York.

Walker led seven Hornets in double figures as Charlotte avenged a home loss to the Nets last Saturday and prevented Brooklyn from clinching the head-to-head tiebreaker. The teams split their four-game season series.

The Hornets won for just the third time in their last 10 games and moved a half-game ahead of idle Orlando into eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

Walker made 12 of 20 shots and hit eight straight shots at one point for the Hornets, who shot 53.2 percent.

Walker scored 10 points and went 5-for-5 in the second quarter as Charlotte outscored the Nets 37-18 and seized a 68-50 lead by halftime. The Hornets briefly let the lead slip under double digits in the fourth quarter before finishing it off.

Reserve Jeremy Lamb added 22 for the Hornets while Nicolas Batum scored all 17 of his points after halftime. Frank Kaminsky, who was a candidate to be bought out by the Hornets, added 15 while Tony Parker and Cody Zeller finished with 12 apiece. Marvin Williams added 11.

D'Angelo Russell scored 22 points and handed out nine assists, but the Nets lost for the ninth time in 14 games and the fifth time in their past eight. Russell shot 9 of 24 and missed 6 of 7 3-point attempts.

Brooklyn's DeMarre Carroll added 20, and Spencer Dinwiddie contributed 15 in his return from missing 14 games with a right thumb injury. The Nets shot 51.2 percent and committed 15 turnovers.

The first half featured 11 lead changes and nine ties, but Charlotte closed it out strong by capitalizing on nine Brooklyn turnovers in a 23-6 run over the last 6:44.

Charlotte took a pair of 21-point leads in the third, but the Nets closed out the quarter on a 10-2 run, cutting the deficit to 98-86 entering the fourth.

Russell scored seven straight Brooklyn points and cut the deficit to 104-95 with 8:49 left by hitting three foul shots. However, consecutive 3-pointers by Batum pushed Charlotte's lead to 110-97 with 7:32 remaining, and the outcome was never in doubt the rest of the way.

--Field Level Media