Eastern Conference sixth-best team Charlotte Hornets got the better of the seventh-ranked Indiana Pacers with a 108-101 victory at the Time Warner Cable Arena on Friday evening.

Kemba Walker and Nicolas Batum got a combined 64 points to lead the Hornets to their 33^rd win in 61 games played this season, which also strengthened their hold to the last three spots of the final eight of the tight East.

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Starting guard Walker finished the match with a team-high 33 points and 10 assists for a double-double game performance. Frenchman Batum added 31 points while shooting 12 for 22 from the floor and connecting 4 of 10 from the three-point range in 38:42 minutes of playing time.

Al Jefferson chipped in with 13 points for Charlotte, who had a 48.1 percent shooting accuracy to improve to 21-9 at home.

The win gives the Hornets, who are currently 33-28, a victory advantage over the Pacers, who currently dropped to 32 wins and 30 losses. The Charlotte team is two wins ahead of the eight-placed Detroit Pistons, who presently have a 31-30 record in the team standings.

The Hornets ended the first half with a 55-50 lead. The Pacers kept the game close and overtook the lead with a reverse lay-up by Ellis to make it 72-71 with 3:45 minutes left to play in the third period.

Ellis sank a turnaround bank shot that stretched Indiana's lead to 7 points, 80-73 with over two minutes left. However, during the last 120 seconds of the third quarter, the Hornets made a 7-2 run that capped the period to 82-83 going into the final quarter of the game.

In the fourth quarter, Batum connected back-to-back treys that gave Hornets 96-90 the lead just with 6:10 minutes to play. An assist from Walker to Marvin Williams, who will sank a three-pointer, gave the Charlotte their biggest lead of the ball game with 11 points, 101-90 in the last 4:39 seconds of the contest.

Paul George scored 35 points and Ian Mahinmi had 10 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Pacers. It was George's 19th 30-point game.

Tags Charlotte Hornets, NBA, Indiana Pacers