NBAE


Charlotte Hornets guard Josh Green blocks the shot of Cleveland’s James Harden in a 118-113 loss Feb. 20 at Spectrum Center. The Hornets are 1-2 since losing Miles Bridges and Moussa Diabate to four-game suspensions for fighting.

The shorthanded Hornets look a bit shaky after the All-Star break. 

Charlotte dropped games against Houston and Cleveland on back-to-back nights. But the bright side is both games were tightly contested, and the Hornets are getting key contributions from unheralded role players. 

The Hornets played eight reserves in a 118-113 loss against Cleveland on Friday and six off the bench the previous night against Houston in a 105-101 loss. Tidjane Salaün, the 2024 first round pick, played 37 minutes in the two games. Pat Connaughton, who played 20 minutes against Cleveland, doesn’t see the floor often. Other role players like Trey Mann and P.J. Hall also contributed. 

Hornets coach Charles Lee was pleased with how the reserves contributed when the team desperately needed them. 

“They’re consistent competitors,” Lee said. “They work their tails off every day. … They have all had moments throughout their career, throughout this year, where they can play, they can hoop, and they’ve earned the respect and trust of their teammates and as well as the staff. And so I feel very comfortable putting those guys out there in that situation and understand that they can hold their own. I just have to do a better job of trying to help put them in the best positions offensively to be successful.”

For Charlotte, the good news is that they have just one more game to play before starters Miles Bridges and Moussa Diabate can play again following their four-game suspension for fighting against Detroit before the All-Star break. Even though the first two games out of the break were losses, Lee feels confident the team is still trending in the right direction.

“I think that we are making a ton of great gains,” Lee said. “I know the results weren’t there, but there’s some moments where I’m watching Tidjane come into the game and impact it in a lot of different ways. [Connaughton] hasn’t played in a while, and he comes in and gives us a good contribution. We have two two-way guys out there playing that have really impacted the game. And I thought Brandon [Miller] and Kon [Knueppel] were better tonight than the game before. … We’re never happy with [losing] obviously, but I think there’s a ton of positives to take from this, and we got to keep moving forward to our road trip coming up.”

Knueppel scored 33 points against Cleveland compared to 15 the night before and hit seven three-pointers in the process. Miller was 1-for-12 from three-point range against Houston and improved to 4-for-12 for 18 points in 23 minutes – likely due to minute limitations because of the back-to-back. Knueppel didn’t commit a turnover against Cleveland and led the offense for large stretches in the second half.

“I think that that’s one of the things that makes him really special,” Lee said. “How well he can score, but how unselfish he is, how well he sees the floor, reads coverages, and I think that after last night, he’s also a super prideful person. And you know, coming off the loss or not having your best game, the great competitors, the great players that I have been around in my career, you know, the next game, they’re going to respond no matter what. They had a bad game the team lost, they are going to show up because of their habits, because of who they are, their DNA. He’s one of those guys, and so it’s really fun and special to watch him.”

The Hornets will hit the road for a three-game road trip to Washington, Chicago and Indiana. Charlotte will likely be favored in each, starting with the Wizards, which Charlotte has beaten each time they have played this season. 

“I think that our group has done a great job of trying to learn and then reset and refocus on who that next opponent is,” Lee said. “And so that’s what we’ll do going into Washington. And from watching them, they’re pretty fun to watch.”

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