What went wrong for Hornets? How Kon Knueppel, Charlotte spiraled out of playoff contention with ugly loss

A quiet start from LaMelo Ball made the climb even more difficult for Charlotte, as he finished the first half with only two points before a much more productive second half that was too little, too late. The Hornets’ bench started 1-of-9 from the field, offering no support for a struggling starting lineup. Charlotte committed 15 turnovers and saw eight shots blocked by the Magic.

The Hornets couldn’t hold up defensively, either. Paolo Banchero proved doubters wrong with a stellar performance after struggling against the 76ers, scoring 23 points with four rebounds and six assists, and the Magic bench shot 6-of-11 in the win.

Some of Orlando’s offensive success could be attributed to positive regression after a tough day on Wednesday, but the Hornets struggled to contain the Heat on Tuesday despite Bam Adebayo missing most of the game and let the Magic rebuild their confidence early in Friday’s contest.

Kon Knueppel’s prolific 3-point shooting during the regular season helped the Hornets become a formidable playoff contender in the East, and his struggles of late can’t be ignored as a major reason for Charlotte’s exit. Knueppel was benched at the end of Tuesday’s game against the Heat and was held to 11 points on Friday, shooting 1-of-6 from deep.

While Knueppel alone wouldn’t have made up the deficit against the Magic, he might have simply run out of gas after a long rookie season.

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Hornets offensive stats vs. Magic

• Points: 90
• FG-FGA: 28-83 (33.7%)
• 3P-3PA: 12-45 (26.7%)
• FT-FTA: 22/25 (88.0%)
• Assists: 17
• TOV: 16

The Hornets managed to reach 90 points, which might be a small win after such a sluggish start, but they were badly inefficient from start to finish. Charlotte shot just 33.7 percent from the field, due partly to an exorbitant number of 3-point attempts while trying to make up the massive deficit.

Charlotte had only 17 assists after posting 26 on Tuesday, and the Hornets had 10 more turnovers in the loss than they did against the Heat.

Friday marked the Hornets’ lowest scoring output since Jan. 21 and third-lowest of the season. After their offense carried them to a winning season, the unit couldn’t withstand the weight of the winner-take-all Play-In game.

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Kon Knueppel Play-In Tournament stats

• PPG: 8.5
• RPG: 4.0
• APG: 1.0
• FG%: 22.7% (5-22)
• 3PT%: 8.3% (1-12)
• FT%: 85.7% (6-7)

Knueppel looked like he ran out of gas in the Hornets’ final two games of the season, as he scored only 17 points and shot 5-of-22 between Charlotte’s two Play-In Tournament games. After a historic season from 3-point range, the No. 4 pick shot just 1-of-12 from deep and was benched during overtime of Wednesday’s win over the Heat.