INDIANAPOLIS, March 24 (UPI) -- Jamal Mashburn scored a season-high 36 points Sunday as the Charlotte Hornets overcame the absence of Elden Campbell to defeat the Indiana Pacers, 99-84, for their sixth straight victory.
The hottest team in the Eastern Conference, Charlotte (36-33) took over sole possession of seventh place in the East and beat Indiana (35-34) for the second time in five days. The Hornets defeated the Pacers, 94-88, at home on Wednesday.
Campbell did not play after suffering a strained right hamstring in the first quarter of Friday's 106-92 victory in Orlando.
The Pacers dropped to eighth in the East but remained 3 1/2 games ahead of the Washington Wizards, who lost to Toronto on Sunday. Indiana has won five of its last seven, with both losses coming to Charlotte.
The Pacers sliced a 19-point deficit to 80-78 on Jermaine O'Neal's jumper with 7:17 left. But Jamaal Magloire made one of two from the line and Mashburn hit a pair of jumpers to give the Hornets an 85-78 lead.
Reggie Miller scored 24 points and O'Neal added 23 for the Pacers, who played without center Brad Miller, a last-minute scratch due to a left groin injury.
Charlotte ended the contest with an 8-0 run as Indiana went scoreless for the final 2 1/2 minutes, missing its last seven shots.
