NBAE


Brandon Miller watches his shot go into the basket during the Charlotte Hornets’ 110-107 win against the Atlanta Hawks Feb. 11,2026 at Spectrum Center.


The All-Star break has arrived, and the Charlotte Hornets are one of the hottest teams in the NBA.

After the nine-game win streak ended on Monday night to Detroit, the Hornets bounced back with a 110-107 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. Charlotte (26-29) are ninth in the Eastern Conference, a half-game ahead of Atlanta (26-30) and two games behind Miami (28-27). Charlotte coach Charles Lee feels the early-season growing pains have helped form a strong team identity.  

“With 27 games to go, we have built this mindset,” he said. “We’ve built some resolve. We’ve built an identity, I really, truly believe. And so as they get a day or two to let their bodies recover, think about what we want to accomplish when we come back here, and I think I know the answer, but it’s a perfect time for us to be able to kind of reflect on everything we’ve done and figure out how we can stay hungry and take advantage of a couple days to kind of rest and recover.”

Since the calendar turned to 2026, the Hornets have lost just seven games and won 11 of their last 12. A big piece to the puzzle has been the play of rookie Kon Knueppel, who was named Eastern Conference rookie of the month for the third straight time. Knueppel, who scored 18 points against the Hawks, is averaging 18.9 per game. He’s second in the NBA in three-pointers made trailing only Cleveland guard Donovan Mitchell. Knueppel is headed to all-star weekend to compete in the Rising Stars Challenge and the three-point contest. 

Knueppel — like Lee — feels the Hornets have an identity he attributes to defensive tenacity that has propelled them to turn the corner. 

“I really think just defensively, our attention to detail and our competitiveness on that end,” Knueppel said. “We’re a pretty good offensive team, but I think also on the offensive end, trust in the pass, early pass-aheads in transition that have really made our offense pretty efficient. But I think the biggest reason is just our change of mindset a little bit on the defensive end.”

The Hornets will return from the All-Star break to face Houston, Cleveland and Washington in their first three games. Charlotte won its first meeting against the Rockets in Houston and have won all three meetings with the Wizards. Cleveland — fourth in the East— has been an issue for Charlotte, which has won just one of three meetings. 

Hornets center Moussa Diabate and forward Miles Bridges will miss all three of those games due to suspension for fighting Monday against Detroit. The NBA suspended them for four games while giving Pistons’ centers Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart two- and seven-game suspensions respectively.

Grant Williams started in place of Bridges against Atlanta while Ryan Kalkbrenner started in place of Diabate. Center P.J. Hall also contributed big minutes off the bench with a double-double and leading the Hornets in rebounding with 10. Kalkbrenner had six rebounds and Williams added eight. 

“I think we come into every game as the hunters, and I think that’s kind of flipped from the beginning of the season,” Knueppel said. “We were building good habits, but now we come in expecting to win games. I think that’s what you need to be successful in this league. It’s really hard to win, and so the appreciation of how hard it is, is something that I think we have a good grasp on right now and what it takes.”

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