Duke product Kon Knueppel continues to be hugely impressive in his rookie season in the NBA. On Sunday, he helped his Charlotte Hornets to a 126-103 win over the Utah Jazz.
Knueppel played a team-high 35 minutes, scoring 24 points on 9-17/4-9. He also had six rebounds and five assists with no turnovers.
His former Duke and current teammate Sion James also started, and he had a solid game as well. James had 15 points in 29 minutes and continued his highly impressive shooting, hitting 6-8. He also had three
assists and no turnovers.
The Hornets must be thrilled with both of them. James was asked to guard Lauri Markkanen, who is nine inches taller. He also proved decisive down the stretch. Both are strikingly mature for rookies.
Fellow rookie Ryan Kalkbrenner also started but didn’t play nearly as well. However, he’s going to have his ups and downs. Charlotte has a lot to work with suddenly.
Mason Plumlee, now 35, is naturally seeing his minutes decline, but he’s still valuable to help Kalkenbrenner learn the ropes. He got four minutes off the bench.
For Utah, Kyle Filipowski didn’t play all that much or well, getting just four points and one rebound in 16 minutes.
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