Inside Charlotte’s rapid rise from 60-loss seasons to playoff contention
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New York — One year after finishing with just 19 victories, the Charlotte Hornets will enter Tuesday night’s play-in opener against the Miami Heat needing two wins to end the NBA’s longest active playoff drought.
Charlotte’s 44-win surge is powered by guard LaMelo Ball, finally healthy after multiple surgeries, and rookie forward Kon Knueppel, selected No. 4 overall last June. The pair combined for 545 made three-pointers, the most by teammates since Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson last topped the league chart.
The offseason blueprint
Ball began lobbying for Knueppel during a predawn ride to the Hospital for Special Surgery in April 2025, hours before his own wrist and ankle procedures. General manager Jeff Peterson recalled Ball’s “very detailed” evaluation of the Duke sharpshooter. When the lottery delivered the fourth pick, Charlotte followed the point guard’s recommendation.
Early adversity, quick recovery
First-year head coach Charles Lee and Peterson set a tougher tone by waiving veteran guard Spencer Dinwiddie in October, opting to keep playoff-tested wing Pat Connaughton as a locker-room voice. The Hornets still opened 4-14 while Ball and fellow lottery pick Brandon Miller nursed injuries, but the roster held together.
Since Jan. 2, Charlotte owns a 33-15 record with statement wins over Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Boston, the Lakers, New York and Denver. The club leads the NBA in offensive rating (120.7) and ranks fifth defensively (110.2) during that span.
Starting five clicks
Lee’s primary lineup of Ball, Miller, Knueppel, Miles Bridges and center Moussa Diabate sparked a nine-game winning streak in January and a six-game run in late February, each victory by at least 15 points. “We asked ourselves, ‘Why can’t we do this every game?’” Bridges said after a 27-point rout of the Thunder on Jan. 5.
Rookie impact
Knueppel averaged 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and shot 42.5% from three, becoming the first rookie ever to lead the league in made threes (273). His 32 games with 20-plus points on at least 65% true shooting surpassed Michael Jordan’s franchise rookie mark.
Teammates credit the 20-year-old for blunt, film-room honesty. “He keeps everybody accountable,” veteran forward Grant Williams said. “He’s our guy who tells the truth.”
Ball’s evolution
Ball, 24, played a career-high 56 straight games after adding 12 pounds of muscle and embracing reduced minutes. His scoring dipped to 20.1 points, but turnovers fell to 2.8 per game, the lowest since his rookie season. Charlotte went 31-110 without Ball the previous three years; this season he volunteered for bench duty in back-to-backs to preserve his health.
“Melo’s still learning how to win, and I think he’s finally got it figured out,” assistant coach Kemba Walker said.
Next hurdle
Charlotte remains 10-18 in games decided by five points or fewer and stumbled in late-March home losses to Philadelphia and Boston. Guard Coby White, acquired at the trade deadline, called grinding out physical matchups “the next step.”
Still, the Hornets set a Spectrum Center record with 25 sellouts. Franchise icon Dell Curry labeled a 114-103 victory over the Knicks on March 26 one of the club’s top three games of the past decade.
Ball, whose 44 wins are a personal best, insists the turnaround is only the beginning. “I’ve always chased winning,” he said. “This is a step in the right direction, but we’re trying to win championships for sure.”
Source: ESPN
