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CHARLOTTE, NC, USA (AP) – LaMelo Ball became the NBA’s youngest player to hit a triple-double, chipping in 22 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for the Charlotte Hornets to beat the Saturday 113-105 to the Atlanta Hawks.
Ball, 19, edged Markelle Fultz by 177 days, who was the youngest with double-digit numbers in three different stats.
Charlotte thus got her third win in a row.
Ball, the third overall pick in the NBA draft, hit nine of 13 shots from the field, and the Hornets handed the Hawks their fourth loss in a row. He became only the fifth rookie in NBA history to record a triple-double, and the first Hornets player to do so as a backup.
Terry Rozier added 23 points to the Hornets’ cause.
Ball had come up close to his first career triple-double on Friday in the Hornets’ win over the Pelicans. He finished that day with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
On Saturday, he set the record in the second half, when he strode down the alley and lavished an assist for Rozier to hit a triple.
