Feb. 21, 2026, 3:13 p.m. ET
Charlotte Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel registered his fifth 30-point performance of the season on Friday and made a bit of history during a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Knueppel finished with 33 points, six rebounds, two assists and one steal in the 118-113 loss at the Spectrum Center. He went 11-of-20 from the field, including seven 3-pointers, in 37 minutes as the Hornets dropped to 26-31 this season.
The fourth overall pick overcame a slow start after recording only three points in the first quarter. He tallied 15 points in the second quarter alone, helping the Hornets rally back from a 14-point deficit to remain competitive the rest of the way.
“I never have to worry too much about him finding his offense or having to cater to him,” Hornets coach Charles Lee said. “It is one of the beauties of who he is as a player. He feeds and works off of everyone else so well. He looks for opportunities. He doesn’t force too much. He finds a couple of shots to go in or a couple of those offensive rebound kick-outs, and it gets him going a little bit more. … I just love that he sticks with it and consistently tries to make the right play.”
Knueppel is averaging 19.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists while shooting 43.3% from 3-point range in 56 appearances this season with the Hornets. He leads all players in the league in total 3-pointers (193) and is first among rookies in total scoring (1,069).
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The 20-year-old surpassed Donovan Mitchell for second place on the all-time single-season rookie 3-point leaderboard. With the performance, Knueppel is now the third rookie in history with multiple games of at least 30 points and seven 3s.
Knueppel is on pace to shatter the rookie 3-point record for a season, set by Sacramento Kings forward Keegan Murray in 2022-23 (206). He has established himself as one of the top rookies in recent memory and is grateful for his success.
“It is cool,” Knueppel said. “It is really cool. Credit to my teammates and the coaches getting me a lot of good opportunities to get good shots. Then just sticking with it and sticking with my mechanics and my confidence in my shot. It just seems like a lot of them are going in right now.”