Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel reached 100 career three-pointers faster than any player in league history during Monday night’s 139-132 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Knueppel entered the matchup with 99 made threes through 28 games. The No. 4 overall pick nailed No. 100 with 49.2 seconds remaining in the first quarter, then finished 5-for-7 from long range and scored 20 points.
At 29 games, the 20-year-old eclipsed the previous record by 12 contests. Lauri Markkanen needed 41 games to reach 100 triples in 2017-18, while all-time three-point leader Stephen Curry required 58 games to hit the milestone.
“I think it’s, No. 1, just his natural ability to shoot the ball,” head coach Charles Lee told The Charlotte Observer. “He’s got a phenomenal base to him. His early shot prep is good, mechanics to finish with the consistency of his shot. His mechanics are really good, so credit to dad and mom and [Duke] coach Jon Scheyer and all the people that helped build up just his overall shooting technique.”
Knueppel has started his rookie season averaging 19.4 points while converting 40.9% of his 8.6 three-point attempts per game.
Monday’s contest featured 12 lead changes and 10 ties before halftime. Cleveland’s victory ended the Cavaliers’ three-game slide.
Source: ESPN
