Kon Knueppel looks ready to be the Charlotte Hornets' go-to guy in the clutch, which has been LaMelo Ball's responsibility in the past seasons, after his fourth-quarter heroics nearly gave the team the comeback win against the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday.
It was certainly a disappointing loss for the Hornets, as they suffered a sixth consecutive defeat and fell to a 4-13 record. To be fair, though, not many probably expected them to lose by a single possession (113-110) to the Eastern Conference's No. 5 seed, and when they were missing three starters, Ball, Brandon Miller, and Ryan Kalkbrenner.
It even looked like Charlotte wouldn't be able to keep it close early in the fourth quarter after another dismal third-quarter performance saw its two-point halftime lead turn into a deficit of four points. Then, a Hawks run led to a 103-93 hole with seven minutes remaining in the period.
Knueppel then displayed his clutch genes by sinking a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 105-102. Several possessions later, he assisted on Moussa Diabate's dunk and then converted a four-point play off a highlight-reel-worthy sidestep jump shot to help the Hornets go ahead 110-107. Sadly, the team went cold, missing shot after shot and turning the ball over, while Atlanta scored the contest's final six points.
Hornets have another crunch-time riser
While the rookie committed a turnover and missed two layups, with his last one being a strip by Nickeil Alexander-Walker, he has clearly been Charlotte's best option in late-game situations this season. That just has not been all that apparent because Miles Bridges, who airballed the final shot of the match to seal the loss for the squad, Collin Sexton, and Tre Mann have played hero-ball far more times than they should. On a side note, Bridges deserves credit for trying to look for Knueppel most of the night.
Even when Ball is healthy, Knueppel should have more plays mapped out for him in close games. Such a notion might be counterintuitive because the star point guard proved last season how deadly he could be in the fourth. However, that has not been the case this year, and besides, the Hornets can benefit from Melo being more of a playmaker than a scorer when they need clutch buckets.
Will Ball be fine with taking a backseat to Knueppel? He should, if he wants to silence the critics who have described him as a shot-chucker and a star who does not care about winning.
The onus also falls on Charles Lee, whose failure to ride the hot hand at times has exasperated the Hornets faithful. The coach has to do a better job of identifying which of his wards should be taking the brunt of the shots in the fourth stanza. So, if Ball is on one of his efficient scoring binges, Lee would need to design more plays to open up more scoring opportunities for him.
Still, the good thing about Knueppel is that he has shown himself capable of being a lights-out scorer, regardless of what defenses have thrown at him. For instance, 2025 Defensive Player of the Year finalist Dyson Daniels helped try locking him up, and yet, he managed to put up 28 points on 9-17 shooting from the field and 7-11 from 3-point range, marking his fourth straight contests of recording over 20 points and at least four long-range bombs.
Perhaps Lee is salivating at the idea of having multiple options in nail-biters when Ball, Knueppel, and Brandon Miller are finally healthy. But given how the campaign has turned out so far and the belief that the youngest of the trio has shown the ability to lead the franchise, the coach needs to rely on Kon more heavily going forward.