{"id":615835,"date":"2026-02-21T13:34:40","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T13:34:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/615835\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T13:34:40","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T13:34:40","slug":"momentum-is-no-longer-on-the-hornets-side-what-to-make-of-charlottes-struggle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/615835\/","title":{"rendered":"Momentum is no longer on the Hornets\u2019 side. What to make of Charlotte\u2019s struggle"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Charlotte Hornets\u2019 recent positive momentum<\/a> is dissipating, some might say understandably so.<\/p>\n

The Hornets are down two starters thanks to suspensions. One of their top backup big men sat out Friday night due to load management, causing some unorthodox lineups. And they came out of the All-Star break squaring off against two teams that sit among the top four seeds in their respective conferences.<\/p>\n

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But, in dropping a 118-113 decision to the Cleveland Cavaliers at Spectrum Center on Friday, the Hornets are headed in the wrong direction. They\u2019ve lost three of their past four games and the firm grip they seemingly held in the play-in tournament picture has grown slightly tenuous.<\/p>\n

\"Charlotte<\/p>\n

Charlotte Hornets forward Brandon Miller (24) looks on during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Charlotte, N.C.<\/p>\n

(Matt Kelley\/For the Observer)<\/p>\n

Concerns don\u2019t abound, though.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I feel like we\u2019re playing pretty decently,\u201d Kon Knueppel<\/a> said. \u201c(Thursday) I didn\u2019t think we played our best game, just in regards to taking care of the ball and just offensively, \u201cBut in all honesty, I think the way we\u2019re competing on the defensive end and on the glass is really keeping us in these games. So from a competitive standpoint, I think we\u2019re really bringing it. It\u2019s just two tough, close losses to two really good teams right out of the All-Star break.\u201d<\/p>\n

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How can they get it going again until they\u2019re fully whole again?<\/p>\n

Brandon Miller has his theory.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think just (doing) what\u2019s been working,\u201d Miller said. \u201cPlaying to our strengths, the pace, I think that\u2019s what\u2019s gotten us the wins in the past. So, just as long as we pick up our pace and our physicality and just play smarter, I think we\u2019ll be good.\u201d<\/p>\n

That rebound will have to come on the road.<\/p>\n

Trips to Washington, Chicago and Indianapolis loom for the Hornets (26-31) before they return home next weekend. By then, there\u2019s a good chance they could have the majority of their roster intact with the return of Miles Bridges and Moussa Diabate, along with the recently-acquired Coby White.<\/p>\n

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In the meantime, there\u2019s not much worry emanating from Charles Lee.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say we\u2019re heading, we\u2019re trending in the right direction,\u201d Lee said. \u201cI think that we are making a ton of great gains, and so I know the results weren\u2019t there. But there\u2019s some moments where I\u2019m watching Tidjane (Salaun) come in the game and impact it in a lot of different ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I thought Brandon and Kon were better tonight than the game before. We\u2019re never happy with the result, obviously, but I think there\u2019s a ton of positives to take from this. We\u2019ve got to keep moving forward to our road trip coming up.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Here are some key takeaways from the Hornets\u2019 second straight loss:<\/p>\n

Managing Kon Knueppel<\/p>\n

Kon Knueppel\u2019s shooting numbers were taking a bit of a dip.<\/p>\n

Although the rookie is still draining 48% of his overall shots and already broke the franchise record for most 3-pointers in a season, he\u2019d only made better than 50% of his attempts in a game just twice in his previous seven outings leading into the Hornets\u2019 date with Cleveland.<\/p>\n

That changed against the Cavs.<\/p>\n

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Posting 33 points \u2014 18 coming in the first half \u2014 and sinking 7 of 15 3-pointers, he passed Cleveland\u2019s Donovan Mitchell (187) for second on the all-time rookie 3-pointers list. Only Sacramento\u2019s Keegan Murray (206) had more.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s cool,\u201d Knueppel said. \u201cIt\u2019s really, really cool. Credit to my teammates. And the coaches give me a lot of good opportunities to get good shots. And then just sticking with it, sticking with my mechanics and my confidence in my shot. And it just seems like a lot of them are going in right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Charlotte<\/p>\n

Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel (7) shoots over Cleveland Cavaliers forward Dean Wade (32) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Charlotte, N.C.<\/p>\n

(Matt Kelley\/For the Observer)<\/p>\n

Keeping Knueppel as fresh as possible will be key for the Hornets down the stretch. And just how will they go about doing that?<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s a holistic approach, really,\u201d Lee said. \u201cHe does a great job just with his individual habits. I think our performance staff is really mindful of what they\u2019re doing for him before practices, after practices, before games, after games, off days. And then I\u2019m trying to be mindful of just minutes overall.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe participated at the All-Star break where all other people were probably having a little bit less of a load. So, we try to be mindful of how we integrated him back for practices. He\u2019s in a great place, though. I know that his habits are at an elite level. They continue to get better, but also he\u2019s such a competitor. He wants to be out there, so I have to manage what I think is going to best help him and put him in the best position to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryan Kalkbrenner\u2019s development<\/p>\n

With Moussa Diabate unavailable for four games due the NBA\u2019s suspension for fighting, it\u2019s providing more of an opportunity for Ryan Kalkbrenner.<\/p>\n

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Kalkbrenner ceded the starting center role to Diabate while recovering from an elbow injury spanning parts of December and January and that\u2019s also when the Hornets\u2019 game-opening unit began taking off and flourishing.<\/p>\n

But minus Diabate, Kalkbrenner is gaining experience and has caught Lee\u2019s eye. He registered eight points and eight rebounds in the first half versus Cleveland and wound up posting his third career double-double \u2014 and first since Nov. 4 \u2014 with 12 points and a career-best 13 rebounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been great,\u201d Lee said. \u201cLast game, his force, his physicality was felt for longer stretches than we had seen in a while. And when he plays like that, he makes us different, gives us great depth blocking shots at the rim, guarding different people.<\/p>\n

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\"Cleveland<\/p>\n

Cleveland Cavaliers guard James Harden (1) passes the ball around Charlotte Hornets center Ryan Kalkbrenner during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Charlotte, N.C.<\/p>\n

(Matt Kelley\/For the Observer)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve talked about even trying to switch him at times, too. So, he\u2019s embraced that defensive role and what the impact looks like. Offensively, we\u2019re seeing him also just find more baskets around the hoop, getting us more possessions. And then to see him get on the floor three times for loose balls, the energy and competitiveness from him has been really good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why Grant Williams sat<\/p>\n

After starting at power forward in Thursday\u2019s loss, Grant Williams was on the bench in street clothes and powerless to do anything to help stifle the Cavs\u2019 size on the interior.<\/p>\n

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Williams knocked knees late in the fourth quarter against Houston and immediately grimaced, but didn\u2019t show any effects after posting 20 points and nine rebounds in 29 minutes. The scheduled absence was pre-planned via the Hornets\u2019 performance staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs he\u2019s coming back from his ACL injury,\u201d Lee said, \u201cit was important for us to just be mindful of him on back-to-backs.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Charlotte Hornets\u2019 recent positive momentum is dissipating, some might say understandably so. The Hornets are down two…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":615836,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3777],"tags":[7,970,5087,684,473,3878,919,193,963,864,1439,685,292,3210,968,10510,6357,6,972,986],"class_list":{"0":"post-615835","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-charlotte-hornets","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-brandon-miller","10":"tag-charles-lee","11":"tag-charlotte","12":"tag-charlotte-hornets","13":"tag-charlottehornets","14":"tag-chicago","15":"tag-cleveland-cavaliers","16":"tag-coby-white","17":"tag-donovan-mitchell","18":"tag-grant-williams","19":"tag-hornets","20":"tag-houston","21":"tag-keegan-murray","22":"tag-kon-knueppel","23":"tag-miles-bridges","24":"tag-moussa-diabate","25":"tag-nba","26":"tag-ryan-kalkbrenner","27":"tag-sacramento"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116108885409096387","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=615835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/615836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=615835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=615835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=615835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}