Kon Knueppel notches new career-best mark in Hornets' loss to Bulls

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — During both phases of the $245 million renovation of Spectrum Center, the two-decade-old arena underwent several upgrades to enhance the experience.

Instead of adding sparkling new entryways, allowing patrons to be ushered into the festivities in a streamlined, expedited process, perhaps they should also have installed a couple of revolving doors. Because that’s what seems to happen with the arena’s main tenant: the Charlotte Hornets.

Keeping up the theme song that seems to accompany the franchise yearly, the Hornets welcomed a familiar face back on a night they were without several key members of their core.

After missing the initial seven weeks of the 2025-26 campaign rehabilitating his left shoulder following offseason surgery, Josh Green made his return to the lineup in the Hornets’ 129-126 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Friday night.

“It’s really nice to have Josh back,” coach Charles Lee said. “I got to see it last year, just his overall competitive spirit. I told him a couple of times last year it’s like a joy just watching you play basketball. The passion he plays with, the competitive spirit is always great, so excited to have him back in the lineup.”

Coming off the bench in his first NBA action since April, Green posted two points and an assist in 13 minutes, but it’s not truly about his numbers. At this point, he’s simply providing much-needed backcourt depth for a team minus the services of LaMelo Ball, Tre Mann and Collin Sexton.

Really, with all the offensive firepower and different scoring options the Hornets (7-18) possess, Green won’t be asked to fill up the bucket. As the trio of Kon Knueppel, Miles Bridges and Brandon Miller showed against Chicago, there’s more than enough on that side of the ball, as evidenced by the trio combining for the Hornets’ 13-point second-half edge over the Bulls.

But where Green can truly be of assistance in the long and short term centers around his biggest strength: digging in when the other team has the ball.

“It’s going to be really effective for us and helpful defensively,” Lee said, “because I think that he’s willing to take on some of those primary creator matchups, which is great. He brings a sense of physicality and knowledge of the game.”

Here are some of the key takeaways from the Hornets’ loss:

Miller looking better

Worried about Miller? Then his outing against the Bulls should quell some concerns.

For a day or two at least.

Miller pumped in 18 points to go with five rebounds and four assists, marking his third straight game cracking double digits in the aftermath of resting his left shoulder for a pair of games. He was 10 for 34 in his previous two games and broke out of the mini slump, connecting on 8 of 22 attempts versus Chicago — though he did miss a pair of short jumpers in crunch time.

Any offensive struggles certainly weren’t bothering Miller on the other side of the court — the true mark of a two-way player. He swatted a pair of shots. And emphatically, too.

Knueppel gets his moment

That first piece of professional hardware is now in Knueppel’s possession.

Prior to netting those career-best 33 points against the Bulls, making 11 of 19 attempts from the floor that included a rare two-handed dunk in the first quarter, Knueppel stood at center court with Kia representative Keith Tooley. It was his latest moment in the spotlight, with Tooley officially presenting him with the Kia Eastern Conference rookie of the month for October/November.

Knueppel has been impressive through 25 games, becoming the early favorite to claim Rookie of the Year honors in the spring. He entered the night tops among all rookies in total points and made 3-pointers, an is among the leaders in minutes played, made field goals, free throws, 3-point percentage, assists and rebounds.

Still, that doesn’t mean he’s completely flawless.

“Yeah, he forces shots sometimes, but it’s good for the most part,” Lee said with a smile. “He’s setting a tone for what he wants our identity to be. It’s really important to him that we are trusting one another, we’re trusting the past, that we are playing together for each other.

“He definitely believes in we over me and I think that that just shows with his game, and you have to model the behaviors you want your team to be about. So, I think that he does it at a high level, and it becomes contagious with our whole group.”

What’s up with Ball, Mann

Make that two straight games in street clothes for Ball and chalk up another one for Mann, increasing his string of missed outings to five.

Ball is nursing a left ankle bone bruise, which is a different injury than the right ankle impingement that sidelined him for seven games in November. Mann is dealing with a right knee bone bruise.

It’s unclear whether either will be available in Cleveland on Sunday.

“They are both progressing really well,” Lee said. “So, Tre has been able to do some individual work. He’s also hopped into some of the non-contact portions of practice. We’ll continue to see how he responds to some of this workload from the last couple days.

“And Melo has done better and better every day, mostly individual work right now with not a lot of contact. So, he’ll continue to progress. It’s good to have a couple of these days right here where they can really dive into their rehab plan without any travel or anything or games. And so we’ll see how things go after practice (Saturday).”