The Charlotte Hornets had an underrated offseason, filling out the rotation with rookies who fit in seamlessly and look ready to play right away around the Hornets’ young stars.
Missing Brandon Miller, Grant Williams, and Josh Green, the Hornets’ other scorers will be asked to pick up the slack tonight as they host the Orlando Magic, who have lost four straight.
With the Magic missing Jalen Suggs and Moritz Wagner, can someone else bring the energy they normally would?
What should Orlando’s gameplan look like to break this 4-game losing streak?
Mar 25, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Orlando Magic guard Anthony Black (0) defends against Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (1) during the second half at the Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-Imagn Images / Sam Sharpe-Imagn Images
LaMelo Ball is back his normal out-of-his mind All-Star self,
averaging 26 PTS – 9 AST / 4 TO – 8 REB – 2 STL while shooting 52% 2P% on 8 twos, 40% 3P% on 4 threes, and 90% FT% on 6 free throws per game.
How do you contain such an electrifying talent?
Other than double-teaming and trying not to foul, all a team can do is take away what the other team does best, making the game as difficult as possible for that team’s best scorer.
Forcing Ball into quick decisions and tough shots, as many midrange pull-ups and deep contested threes as possible, is the primary goal.
LaMelo Ball can beat you in many ways, but is known to make an erratic decision at times. Create quick decisions early in the shot clock, make Ball see a closed-off rim where the midrange and deep pull-up three feel open, and maybe he takes more tough shots than normal.
Ball thrives as an outlet passer in transition, dynamic connector, and P&R/DHO connoisseur with Charlotte reliant on a lot of ball screens, double screens, and handoffs usually involving Kalkbrenner at the top of the key.
Disrupting the Ball/Kalkbrenner P&R/DHOs with splashes of different coverages such as icing, trapping, hedging from Orlando’s bigs could throw the Hornets’ offense off balance, taking away one of their main actions.
Normally this strategy would be amplified by Jalen Suggs using his screen navigation superpowers to plow through the pick and blow up the play on his own, but Suggs is unavailable tonight.
Oct 26, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel (7) attempts.a shot against the Washington Wizards during the third quarter at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images / Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images
Fourth overall pick and starting Hornets guard Kon Knueppel is shooting the lights out of the gym to start the season, splashing 53% 3P% of his nearly eight three point attempts per game.
Knueppel’s game is impressive for many reasons, from his ability to get two feet in the paint before finishing at his own pace, to his incredible 3pt shooting gravity on and off the ball, and his natural feel for the game making touch connective passes with ease.
What makes Kon Knueppel’s game even more valuable is his scalability.
Whether its point guard, primary scorer, versatile 3pt shooter, connective passer, Knueppel can fill just about any offensive perimeter role his team needs in any given lineup. How do you slow that down?
Doubling may hurt more than it helps, as Knueppel is an excellent passer when reading and reacting to the defense.
Beware of Knueppel slipping and popping off picks for LaMelo Ball, where he has found quick looks from deep.
Pressuring tightly on and off ball with Orlando’s bigger defenders such as Anthony Black is one strategy: deny him as a shooter, defend him without fouling or doubling, run him off the 3pt line, force tough midrange shots.
Dec 15, 2024; Orlando, Florida, USA; New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) is defended by Orlando Magic center Goga Bitadze (35), forward Wendell Carter Jr. and guard Jalen Suggs (4) in the fourth quarter at Kia Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Reper-Imagn Images / Jeremy Reper-Imagn Images
135 points to Detroit without Ivey?
136 points to Philadelphia without Embiid, McCain, or George?
Haven’t held a team to under 110 points yet, let alone 100.
The only place you’ll find Orlando’s Top-2 defense from the last two seasons is on a milk carton.
What happened to that never-quitting, never-out-of-a-game competitive fire? The Magic Standard?? The Heart and Hustle???
Orlando ranks 22nd in Defense, rating 15th or worse in all four factors.
Defensively, the team needs to remember what it does best, bring the energy every possession, and run off turnovers when possible.
Playing faster does affect energy levels, but there’s still an expected level of effort for every player to ‘guard their yard’, as Coach Mosley likes to say.
Can this team show its still an elite defense tonight despite missing the face of their defense in Jalen Suggs?
*NEW* for @HeatMagicOnSI
Does Orlando’s faster pace help or hurt their established defensive identity?https://t.co/veaaH1bQIV
— Ryan Kaminski NBA (@beyondtheRK) October 29, 2025
Highlighting 10 Problems with the Orlando Magic
these first five issues are all too familiar for Magic fans:https://t.co/jU33GqGTQT
— Ryan Kaminski NBA (@beyondtheRK) October 28, 2025
Containing Cade Cunningham among 3 keys to Magic win in Motor City @beyondtheRK https://t.co/q9tqueatM2
— Miami Heat & Orlando Magic onSI (@HeatMagicOnSI) October 29, 2025
