The Charlotte Hornets have taken the NBA by storm in 2026, but a bad start to the season has them fighting just to get into the playoffs. Meanwhile, their G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, has been good from the outset. They went 10-4 at the Tip-off Tournament to start the season, second only to the 14-0 Raptors 905 in their division. They went 24-12 in the regular season, which was again for second place, but this time in the whole conference. They’ve now made their way to the G League Finals, where they look to follow in the footsteps of the legendary Hornets Summer League team of 2025. And they’re going up against the Kings, who will surely be looking to avenge that loss.
A lot of the players from that summer league championship are looking for more hardware. Liam McNeeley, Tidjane Salaun, and Jaylen Sims have been key contributors for both iterations. DJ Rodman is playing a role off the bench. Marcus Garrett has been with the Swarm for a few years now, though he wasn’t part of the Summer League Hornets. They’ve been supplemented by two-way players Tosan Evbuomwan and Antonio Reeves, who are both averaging double figures scoring in the playoffs. PJ Hall helped them get to this point, but he’s out for the year with an ankle injury.
The Swarm took game one of the best of three series on Wednesday night using the same method of attack the Hornets do. They bombed threes and crashed the glass. They didn’t shoot the ball well at all, coming in under 40% from the field and 30% from three, but they made up for it with a dominant performance on the boards. The Swarm rebounded over 40% of their reboundable misses and outrebounded the Stockton Kings 66-46. Six different players had at least two offensive rebounds. One of the few that didn’t, Liam McNeeley, tracked down 12 defensive boards and 13 total. The extra possessions proved to be vital, as the Swarm won despite the Kings shooting better percentage from two, three, and the free throw line and getting 25 points from former Hornet DaQuan Jeffries. The Swarm closed the game on an 11-2 run to overcome a five point deficit and win by four.
The teams will travel out to California to get ready for game 2 on Friday night. The game will be at 10:00 Eastern on ESPNU. If the Swarm can’t clinch the title there, the two teams will return to Greensboro for the decisive third game. That’ll be played on Monday night at 8:00 Eastern and will be broadcast on ESPN2.
