Miles Bridges and Kon Knueppel led seven Hornets in double figures as they thoroughly dominated the Jazz for four quarters.
The summary
The Hornets got off to a little bit of a rocky start as the Jazz took an early lead. They quickly turned it around with three straight possessions with threes off the hands of Collin Sexton, Kon Knueppel, and Sion James. They were off and running from there. Both teams traded punches for a bit before the Jazz hit a lull that allowed the Hornets to race out to a commanding lead. Knueppel drilled a couple of quick threes in the second quarter to further build the lead, and the Hornets held that through the halftime break.
The third quarter wasn’t a masterpiece by any means. The Hornets seemingly took their foot off the gas with the commanding second half lead against a Jazz team that was clearly inferior on the night. They committed a lot of sloppy fouls and the offense wasn’t as biting as it was in the first half. The Jazz narrowed the deficit to as little as 16 late in the quarter, but a steal by KJ Simpson from the Jazz trying to push for a buzzer beater led to a tip-in by Moussa Diabate off Simpson’s missed layup to give the Hornets momentum heading into the fourth.
The Hornets kept their foot on the gas in the early parts of the fourth quarter and got the lead back above 20, and they were able to keep it there for the duration of the fourth quarter. Both teams seemed to accept the outcome of the game relatively early in the quarter and just played out the string for the last several minutes.
The Good
Kon Knueppel had the best game of his young career bouncing back from a couple of dudes. He finished two 3-point plays in the first quarter along with a quick trigger three to get into the groove. He was very aggressive attacking closeouts and was more decisive with the ball than he had been in recent games. He played a good all around floor game too with six rebounds and five assists. His last bucket in particular was a beautiful piece of footwork.
Knueppel also won the first meeting between he and his stiffest competition for the fourth overall pick, at least in the eyes of fans and the media. While he had his fingerprints all over the game, Ace Bailey was largely invisible for the entire game. He didn’t score until the second half and didn’t do anything else of note. It’s far, far away from anything definitive, but it’s a good first battle for the Hornets rookie.
Sion James continues to impress. He spent a good chunk of time at the four guarding Lauri Markkanen, and did a pretty good job. While he was at a huge height disadvantage, he made up for it with physicality and bothered Markkanen on a few occasions. He also continued to drastically exceed offensive expectations. He scored a career high 15 points and has now made 13 of his 18 3-point attempts on the season.
Several of the vets were the best versions of themselves. Bridges led the team with 29 points and was aggressive attacking downhill and getting to the line. Diabate either grabbed or almost grabbed just about every available while he was on the floor and junkyard dogged his way to 17 points. Collin Sexton played a facilitator role with LaMelo Ball out, and Tre Mann added a cool 13 off the bench.
The Bad
The third quarter lull was a but of a chore to watch, especially with how often the Hornets put the Jazz on the line. Credit to the coaching staff and the players for getting refocused and putting the game away.
How about that 2024 draft class, eh? Sixth overall pick Tidjane Salaün only got three minutes as the Hornets elected to go small for most of the night. 10th overall pick Cody Williams played just nine minutes. Neither did anything at all.
What’s Next
The Hornets will get a day off to head to New Orleans to take on another popular prospect on At the Hive in Jeremiah Fears and the winless New Orleans Pelicans.