Charlotte Hornets guard Brandon Miller throws down a one-handed dunk during action against the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025 at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
No one could have blamed Charles Lee if he kept rubbing his eyes Saturday afternoon, assuring what was transpiring was real and not a figment of his imagination.
When the Charlotte Hornets coach peered out onto the Spectrum Center court for a matinee with the LA Clippers, not long after pregame introductions concluded, he actually had his starting lineup intact for the first time in exactly four weeks, thanks to Brandon Miller’s return from a left shoulder subluxation and LaMelo Ball finally healthy after nursing a right ankle impingement.
But these, of course, are the Hornets, so nothing truly comes easy. And the good times never seem to last very long. Ever.
So even on a day when things should have been rosy and cheery, it’s instead more of the same. Rookie center Ryan Kalkbrenner, who’s had a promising start to his career, along with reserve guard Pat Connaughton, exited the Hornets’ 131-116 loss and ignited more thoughts of how the franchise just can’t catch a break against the dreaded injury bug. Kalkbrenner is dealing with left ankle soreness and Connaughton has right calf soreness.
“Yeah, it’s tough,” Kon Knueppel said. “We got, what, eight minutes with the starting … not even like six minutes tonight with the starting unit. Now, we still got Melo and probably Brandon not playing as many minutes. And then Pat — PC and Kalk — go down. It’s just frustrating.
“We’ve just got to keep showing up, keep fighting. Next guy’s got to be ready to go, and we got two-way guys that are ready to go, and we’ll keep going.”
For the Hornets and everyone who’s followed the team for the better portion of the past decade, it’s rinse and repeat. Groundhog Day. Deja vu. Name it and the phrase probably applies.
“Yeah, unfortunate, but part of the game,” Lee said. “We will give those guys some treatment and figure out how to get [them] back as soon as possible.”
At least Miller is off the injury list, though. The birthday boy, who turned 23 on the day of his return, canned 8 of 18 attempts and posted 21 points and three assists, not showing a lot of signs of rust despite missing the previous 13 games.
“That felt good, back like I never left,” Miller said. “I feel confident about my game, my energy that I bring to the team.”
The latter is something Miller intends on infusing into the Hornets a bit more. Sitting out over the past month gave him a different perspective, and he’s noticed how he can be of major assistance now that he’s in the lineup again.
“I feel like we start games great,” Miller said. “I feel like that second half is where things kind of, you know, shift the energy. So, just maintain that first-half energy and kind of add it to it, I feel like would be great.”
Expect to see Miller worked in slowly over the coming games. Beginning with Sunday’s tilt in Atlanta against the Hawks, the tail end of a back-to-back, the Hornets are in the midst of a stretch where they’ll play four games over the next seven days. That also includes three games in four days and matchups on consecutive nights.
Increasing his on-court time will be a process.
Collaboratively, with input from the performance staff, the Hornets have a step-by-step ramp-up process to ensure players are not rushed back or immediately overexerted. It’s an important part of their return-to-play program.
“Your first game back, I’m not going to try to push him to the brink as much as I probably would want to, but we want to be smart about it,” Lee said. “I think that we want to be intentional with how we ramp him back up. So hopefully we can keep him in a good controlled space, and then we’ll just kind of just go forward day after day.
“How’s he responding? What’s the plan? For him, it’s a little bit different, obviously, coming back from not a lower leg extremity injury.”
Just having Miller in the mix once more provided the Hornets (4-12) with an immediate emotional lift. His fire was evident from the get-go, when he posted all eight of the Hornets’ initial eight points and flexed on a couple of occasions — like after an emphatic right-handed Statue of Liberty dunk for the game’s opening bucket.
“We’re all excited for Brandon to be back in the lineup for a lot of different reasons,” Lee said. “I think for myself, I’m really happy with how he handled himself during this process. … His whole process as he went through his rehab and his return-to play-program, he came in every day locked in and excited for an opportunity to keep trying to get better. He saw the progress he was making, which was really good.
“I’m happy for him to be back out there after kind of having to go through that journey again. I think it ultimately just made him stronger and better.”
Here are some other key takeaways from the Hornets’ fourth straight loss:
Hard trouble stopping James
Two words essentially sum up what went wrong for the Hornets: James Harden.
Harden was unstoppable, tossing in shots from every angle. He pumped in 27 of his game-high 55 points in the first quarter, setting the tone for the Clippers (5-11). He shredded Charlotte’s defense with ease.
“Making the right decision,” Harden said. “That’s how I play every single game. Some nights I’m really, really good at it. Some nights I’m not the best at it. I try to be great every single night. Yes, it’s just that simple.”
The Hornets lamented their defensive effort against Harden. They know it’s unacceptable, even as good as the 11-time All-Star and 2017-2018 MVP is.
“We wanted to take away his left (hand) right away early in the game, and so we didn’t execute that,” Knueppel said. “Obviously, we tried to throw everything we could at him, throw bodies and sometimes it’s hard. It’s hard to scramble in the NBA and play defense that way. He killed us today.”
No Kon man
Knueppel is quietly continuing his solid stretch.
The rookie paced the Hornets with a team-best 21 points, marking the third straight game he’s been Charlotte’s top scorer. He’s in the midst of an impressive run over the past week-plus alone, during which he registered a career-best 32 points in his hometown of Milwaukee on Nov. 14.
“I’m just trying to keep it simple,” Knueppel told The Charlotte Observer. “I didn’t rebound the ball well (Saturday). I thought I could have been better in that area, but that’s an area I’ve been good in. But just trying to make the right play, do the right thing and my teammates, they’ve been looking for me, and they really help.”
Knueppel is making a serious case for rookie of the year honors. Overall, he’s totaled double figures in scoring in all but three of his appearances and led the Hornets in scoring on five occasions.
He has a fan already in Harden.
“Obviously, he’s shooting the (expletive) out of the ball, but just putting it on the ground, getting to the basket,” Harden said. “It’s just a great pickup for Charlotte and the Hornets. Excited to see what he will continue to do.”
Good bye, CP III
Quite a bit of news broke before tipoff, when North Carolina native Chris Paul announced via social media that this would be his final visit to his home state as an NBA player.
Though he declined to speak about it after the game, citing a preference to do it when the team returns to Los Angeles, the Wake Forest product is calling it a career after 20 years and retiring upon the completion of the 2025-26 season.
Paul signed a one-year deal for the veteran’s minimum of $3.6 million in the offseason, joining the Clippers for a second stint.
He’s the only player in NBA history with 20,000 points, 10,000 assists and 6,000 steals and has been a mentor to more than his share of players in the league, including Harden. He’s the definition of a floor general.
“Just reading the game, communicating, making sure that guys are in their spots,” Harden said, “and (on) another level offensively, seeing where defenses are, how they’re playing and making impact. That time while I was in Houston, he helped me with the load as far as getting in the paint, creating shots and even being aggressive.
“So we’ve had some really good times, and I’m proud of everything he’s accomplished.”
This story was originally published November 22, 2025 at 3:53 PM.
Roderick Boone
The Charlotte Observer
Roderick Boone joined the Observer in September 2021 to cover the Charlotte Hornets and NBA. In his more than two decades of writing about the world of sports, he’s chronicled everything from high school rodeo to a major league baseball no-hitter to the Super Bowl to the Finals. The Long Island native has deep North Carolina roots and enjoys watching “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” endlessly.
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