Buzz Bulletin: Cavs Humble Hornets as Knueppel Tops Rookie Rankings
Dismal first half dooms Charlotte as the Hornets fall 94-87 in the low-scoring affair. Meanwhile, Kon Knueppel is back on top of the NBA Rookie Ladder
The Cleveland Cavaliers used a dominant first-half performance to defeat the Charlotte Hornets Wednesday evening at Spectrum Arena, earning a 94-87 victory to bounce back from a 32-point drubbing at the hands of the NBA Champion OKC Thunder two nights earlier. Star guard Donovan Mitchell led the way with 24 points for Cleveland. The Cavs also got a double double from Evan Mobley, who tallied 14 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocks. With Charlotte coming off their longest road trip of the 2025-26 season, a successful five-game stretch that saw them go 3-2 with lopsided wins over the Nuggets and Lakers as well as a 55-point demolition of the Utah Jazz, the Hornets were aiming to carry their momentum into this Eastern Conference matchup against a Cleveland squad with legitimate postseason aspirations, but the Cavs had other ideas.
Charlotte started the game ice cold from the field, going one for their first nine attempts and three out of their first fifteen. Meanwhile, Cleveland barely set a foot wrong as they raced off to an 8-0 lead with four baskets in the paint, forcing a Hornets timeout barely two minutes into the game. Things went from bad to worse for Charlotte, as the Cavaliers extended their lead to 19-4 less than halfway through the quarter, leading to yet another Charlotte timeout. Cleveland led by as much as 29-8 before Charlotte went on a quick 12-2 run to get back within eleven before ending the quarter down by a manageable thirteen points, 33-20.
The Cavs pushed their lead back to 26 points midway through the second quarter as Donovan Mitchell found his stroke from deep, and the Cavs’ bigs took advantage of several easy looks from close-range. With Charlotte’s perimeter players unable to find their shooting stroke and Cleveland continuing to flow offensively, the Cavaliers ended the first half with a commanding 56-32 advantage as Mitchell and Mobley led the way with 14 and 13 points respectively.
Brandon Miller caught fire in the third quarter, scoring seventeen points as Charlotte took advantage of several Cleveland turnovers to cut its deficit in half and double its point total to head to the final period down by a dozen, 76-64.
Cleveland looked all out of sorts to start the final frame, as a couple of sloppy turnovers allowed Charlotte to cut their lead down to seven with eight minutes left, but the Cavaliers quickly regained their composure, bumping their advantage back up to fifteen three minutes later. The Hornets managed to trim the deficit down to four with 12.8 seconds left on a driving layup by Knueppel, but this was a classic case of too little, too late.
Keys to the Game
Charlotte shot 13/50 (26%) from the field in the first half, including 3/24 (13%) from three-point territory, totaling 32 points, easily their season-low for a half. The Hornets high-scoring trio of Ball, Miller, and Bridges shot a combined 3/23 before the break. The Hornets’ poor shooting continued into the second half, as they finished the game shooting 34% from the field overall and 17% from deep.
Cleveland dominated the glass all evening, finishing the contest with a 60-47 rebounding advantage. Starting forward Evan Mobley, who had a double-double by halftime, had eleven first-half rebounds and finished with a game-high fourteen rebounds to go along with his fourteen points. Cleveland’s 25 year-old rookie forward Nae’Qwan Tomlin provided a spark off the bench with seven offensive rebounds in only 21 minutes.
Cleveland’s 20 turnovers (eight by Mitchell alone) allowed the Hornets to hang around, but Charlotte never really threatened to take the lead, as their brutal first-half shooting performance proved to be too much to overcome.
Buzz Bright Spots
Grant Williams made his first appearance at home for the Hornets since returning from a torn ACL and torn meniscus that sidelined him for over a year. Although he finished the game scoreless, he showed some good defensive activity with three steals to go along with five rebounds and four assists in 25 minutes of action.
Buzz-worthy Facts
While the loss drops the Hornets to 16-28 on the season, they are only four games out of contention for the postseason play-in with 38 games left in the regular season.
Yes We Kon
Kon Knueppel has edged out the Dallas Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg to take the #1 spot in the NBA’s rookie rankings. Knueppel and Flagg have traded places all year in the rankings, which are also known as the Kia Rookie Ladder for sponsorship purposes. Knueppel is the quickest player in NBA history to hit 100 career three-pointers, and is averaging slightly more points per game, while Flagg has managed more rebounds, steals, and assists in his rookie season.
Charlotte’s last Rookie of the Year, of course, was LaMelo Ball.
What’s Next
The Hornets will be back in action tonight, Thursday evening for a divisional matchup at Orlando before coming back to Spectrum Arena for two consecutive home games against the Wizards on Saturday and the Sixers on Monday - assuming a potential winter storm doesn’t shut down the Hive.
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Solid breakdown of a tough defensive battle. The Hornets first half shooting collapse (13% from three) is pretty telling about how momentum can snowball in professional basketball. Knueppel reclaiming that #1 rookie spot is impressive considering the back-and-forth with Flagg all season, the three-point record adds another layer to what could be a Roty race for the ages.