Kon Knueppel made eight threes to race past Keegan Murray for most threes ever made by a rookie as the Charlotte Hornets cruised past the Indiana Pacers, 133-109.

The Summary

The Hornets were shaky to start. They chucked up a bunch of threes and Brandon Miller and LaMelo Ball turned the ball over repeatedly as the visitors fell behind early. A Charles Lee timeout seemed to get the boys locked in, and they followed it with four straight made threes. Kon Knueppel checked back in from a spell on the bench to knock down three of his own, but an inability to get stops had the Hornets down three after one. They quickly rectified that in the second quarter. A 16-0 run broke the game open. A bunch of turnovers throttled the run, but that was only temporary. By halftime, the Hornets lead had ballooned to 21. The last bucket of the half was a Knueppel transition three that tied the rookie record for threes made in a season.

The Hornets kept the Pacers in that hole throughout the third quarter. It was pretty uneventful for a while, but we ended up getting a shootout between Brandon Miller and Micah Potter. The two combined to make seven straight threes on seven straight possessions. A couple minutes later, Knueppel checked into the game and quickly fired up one of his trademark one dribble step back threes. He rattled it in to break the rookie 3-point record. It helped the Hornets to a 25 point lead after three.

For the third time as many games, the fourth quarter was largely pointless. Knueppel made a couple more threes to add to his record and had a couple chipped in by teammates. The benches gradually got added to the game as the Hornets cruised to another easy win.

The Good

We have to start with the obvious. Kon Knueppel now holds the record for most 3-pointers made by a rookie, and we still have an entire quarter of the season left. It’s hard to explain how absurd his combination of volume and efficiency is for a rookie. It’s a elite for a veteran. Rookies never shoot the ball like this, and the consistency which he does so is unprecedented. His eight threes tonight added to his lead for most 3-pointers made in the entire league this season. And imagine that this is probably as bad as Knueppel is going to be. He’s only going to continue to get better with time and experience. What a gem.

The Hornets as a team needed to come ready to play tonight. They’ve taken the Pacers lightly in the earlier meetings this season and paid for it. While the first quarter was pretty underwhelming, they ratcheted up the intensity in the second quarter and put the game away early. The second quarter mirrored the third quarters of the previous two games. The Hornets got their hands on a lot of balls, and that got them out in transition and into a rhythm. They made sure there was no shot the Pacers could sneak up on them again. And they did a good job of limiting Jay Huff and TJ McConnell, who had been major thorns in their side in the first two games.

Brandon Miller had a pretty effortless 33 points. He’s been a little more up and down in February after an explosive January, but he seems to be turning the corner back to the elite shot making he displayed at the start of this run of winning play. I’ve thought he’s pounded the ball a bit too much in the last week or two as he hunts for shots, but that wasn’t an issue in this game. He was decisive getting his shots up or moving the ball and showed how good he can be when the game is humming.

LaMelo Ball had an easy breezy 20 points and 8 assists, but even that understates his control of the game. Offense looks so easy when he’s on the floor, even when he’s launching up the occasional bad shot. He only had to play 22 minutes and the Hornets outscored the Pacers by 24 points in those minutes. Those 24 points were the difference in the game.

Grant Williams is so solid. He hit three threes, but his impact as a defender and connector is palpable and probably more important. He’s just always in the way defensively, even with his athletic limitations.

If Moussa Diabate isn’t your top three of your favorite players, I don’t know what you’re doing.

The Bad

The total number doesn’t look bad because the volume tapered off when the game got out of reach, but the Hornets were pretty sloppy with the ball while the game was still competitive. That’s part of the reason the game even stayed competitive for as long as it did. There were the usual bad screens the Hornets are so bad about, and they had a handful of thrown away passes and dribbles to nowhere. I guess you kind of accept it if it’s part of an offense that’s still elite, but you’d like to see that cleaned up for tougher opponents.

What’s Next

The Hornets won all three games on their road trip against Eastern Conference tankers by an average of 24.3 points per game. That’s how you take care of business. Now they return home to play an early afternoon game against a Trail Blazers team that may be without rising star Deni Avdija.