LaMelo Ball had a better fourth quarter than Luka Doncic.

The Dallas superstar contributed significantly to the Mavericks’ comeback victory.

Doncic scored 23 points after a scoreless first quarter, and the Mavericks defeated the Charlotte Hornets 124-118 on Sunday night, overcoming Ball’s first 30-point triple-double.

Ball finished with 13 assists and 10 rebounds and scored 23 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter. But the Hornets couldn’t hold a 15-point first-half lead a night after rallying for a one-point win over Indiana in the fourth.

“Just trying to win, really. Trying to do as much as I could,” said Ball, who was 8 of 9 from the field and 5 of 6 from 3-point range in the fourth, the highest-scoring quarter of his career. “Didn’t really go our way at the end.”

For the Mavericks, who were coming off their first loss of the season, Grant Williams contributed 18 points, including three three-pointers in the fourth quarter, while freshman Dereck Lively II added 15 points, 14 rebounds, and a critical fourth-quarter block.

With 8.4 seconds remaining, the Hornets had a chance to tie when Dallas was called for a shot-clock violation. However, youngster Brandon Miller was unable to get the ball in before a 5-second timeout, and Ball fouled Kyrie Irving before Dallas inbounded.

Irving’s free throw gave the Mavericks a 120-116 lead and allowed them to keep the ball, and he then nailed two more free throws with 7.7 seconds remaining to all but seal Dallas’ fifth victory in six games.

“I’m not going to say anything about that,” Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said about the late inbound play. “I didn’t see it. I have nothing to say about that.”

Doncic, who had just one scoreless first quarter last season, went 8 of 15 after his 0-for-4 start — but was just 1 of 9 from long range — while finishing with 12 rebounds and nine assists.

Irving had 18 points and 10 assists.

“When we have 77 and 11, it’s an easy thing,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said about Doncic and Irving. “I thought our quarterback was great, and our receivers were great with that.”

For the Hornets, Gordon Hayward and P.J. Washington each had 20 points, and Mark Williams had 19 points and 10 rebounds.

When Charlotte shot 57% and led 60-45 late in the second quarter, Ball had 11 assists before scoring his first points on a layup late in the first half. Hayward had 15 points before the half.

The Mavericks tightened their defense in the last minute of the first half, forcing three missed shots before Doncic’s missed three-pointer in the final seconds forced Dallas to settle for a 12-point disadvantage.

Dallas maintained their defensive effort after the half, restricting Charlotte to 42% shooting.

Doncic had his second technical foul of the season after an unfavorable foul call, and he was requesting another after being flagged for bumping Hayward on a shot.

After Hayward missed both free throws, Doncic grabbed the rebound and gestured to no one in particular before hitting a step-back jumper at the other end.

In the fourth quarter, Doncic had 10 points and four assists.

“We changed coverages,” Clifford said about trying to defend Doncic. “We really tried like four or five different things. And he just destroyed us. They had him for nine assists, but he created almost their entire offense. And we couldn’t figure out a way to stop him.”

Hornets: Washington on Wednesday night for the only home game in a five-game stretch.

Mavericks: At Orlando on Monday night as Dallas alternates road and home games for the first eight.