The Charlotte Hornets couldn’t buy a bucket or get a stop as they handed the Indiana Pacers their second win of the season.
The Pacers have been the worst shooting team in the league this season, so naturally they started the game hotter than a pepper sprout with the Hornets in town. The Hornets struggled with the Pacers’ pick and rolls and left shooters open on kickouts, but they were also the victims of uncharacteristically strong shooting by the Pacers. On the other end, the Hornets couldn’t buy a bucket, but they were so dominant on the offensive glass that they were able to keep pace purely from their volume of shots. That same trend carried through the entire first half, but the Hornets stopped converting their offensive rebounds into buckets in the second quarter. That allowed the Pacers to pull ahead entering halftime.
LaMelo Ball scored five quick points to start the second half, but that was quickly canceled out and then some by the Jay Huff and Bennedict Mathurin show. The Hornets seemed frustrated by the direction the game was going and started playing a more hurried and disorganized style of basketball. They went into the fourth quarter down by 20.
After watching 29% 3-point shooter Jarace Walker make three first half triples, the Hornets watched TJ McConnell hit his second and third threes of the season. The Hornets didn’t roll over though. They finally ratcheted up their urgency and made a push. Kon Knueppel hit a couple of jumpers then Pat Connaughton joined the fun with a pair of threes to pull within single digits. Collin Sexton jumped a passing lane for a steal and what looked like an uncontested layup to bring the Hornets within six with about four minutes to play, but Bennedict Mathurin ran him down from behind and pinned the shot. Andrew Nembhard went down and made a tough floater on the other end. Miles Bridges made a three to pull the Hornets within seven, but the Hornets, who had somehow stopped getting defensive rebounds, let the Pacers get a couple of offensive boards on their next possession. On the second, Ben Sheppard in uncontested for a putback to effectively ice the game.
I think I’m just going to make a template that has a pre-typed paragraph about Kon Knueppel playing a steady, efficient game. He led the game with 28 points and chipped in eight rebounds and seven assists. Unlike some of his teammates, he played very under control and stay composed throughout the game. It might not be long before Knueppel is straight up the best player on this team.
Pat Connaughton played a really strong game off the bench. He scored 11 points as part of the comeback attempt in the fourth quarter, but he also brought some tenacity and urgency that the Hornets had been lacking for a lot of the game.
Miles Bridges had the kind of game the Hornets need form him more often on the offensive end. He picked his spots well and had a couple of big buckets late.
LaMelo Ball had a brutal game. Not only did he struggle to put the ball in the basket, he did so on extremely high volume. At the time that he subbed out a few minutes into the third quarter, he had played 19 minutes and was 4-of-17 from the field and 2-of-8 from three. I’m all for maintaining confidence even when the shot is falling, but shooting that much when the shot is that cold is not going to work, especially when they’re quick threes or high degree of difficulty shots in traffic. LaMelo is now 16-of-55 (29.1% from the field) and 5-of-24 (20.1%) from three in three games since his return to the lineup with a usage rate near 40%. That’s just unacceptable. The Hornets can’t win with that.
Collin Sexton had a pretty rough game in his own right. He ran point for the Hornets with LaMelo sitting down the stretch and did not do well. He had a couple of layups blocked and missed the box out that would have prevented Sheppard’s tip-in at the end.
Sion James seems to have lost his confidence after a couple of cold shooting games. He only took one three and passed up several open looks. At one point he traveled because he was caught in between shooting an open three or driving into traffic. He needs to just let it fly.
Ryan Kalkbrenner struggled with the spacing the Pacers’ bigs provide, especially Jay Huff. With the Hornets struggling with their pick and roll coverages, they ended up in a lot of switch situations and rotations to shooters. Kalkbrenner found himself in space more often than he or the Hornets would like, and he struggled to make an impact because of it.
I said this for [the Raptors game](https://atthehive.com/2025/11/18/recap-analysis-hornets-play-competitively-but-cant-beat-raptors/) as well. The Hornets offensive pace is not where it needs to be. Part of that has been their inability to get stops, which is forcing them into more halfcourt offense, but they aren’t moving quick enough even in their halfcourt sets. There’s a little bit of hesitation on the catch, which is closing up their driving lanes and bogging down the offense. It has not been the free flowing, rapid fire offense we saw in the first couple weeks of the season.
The Hornets get a couple of days off to travel home and lick their wounds. They’ll be back in action on Saturday afternoon against the reeling Clippers.
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