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The kids are alright: Kon Knueppel, Sion James headline dominant Hornets win

Originally posted on Charlotte Hornets on SI
By Matt Alquiza | Last updated Nov 2, 2025 10:34 PM ET

The Charlotte Hornets weren't exactly 'on the ropes' in the fourth quarter of Sunday night's game against the Jazz, but they had been stung by a couple of Utah jabs as Keyontae George and Lauri Markkanen attempted to lead a comeback from down 31 points.

Two of the Hornets' rookies, that look nothing of the sort, quickly squashed said comeback attempt.

In a game where both Kon Knueppel (24 points, six rebounds, and five assists on 9/17 shooting and 4/9 from three) and Sion James (15 points, five rebounds, three assists and some impressive defense against Markkanen who is taller than him by at least six inches) impressed throughout, they took over the game midway through the fourth quarter.

Utah cut a once 31 point lead to 17 and Sion went to work.

After an offensive rebound, the 33rd overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft deked a pass to Knueppel that faked Markkanen out of his shoes and opened up a driving lane that James sliced through before finishing around Jusuf Nurkic with a swooping left-handed layup.

On Charlotte's next possession down, Knueppel hit his fourth and final three-pointer of the night, restoring Charlotte's 20 point advantage and all but shutting the door on Utah. To add insult to injury, just a few possessions later, Knueppel received a pass in the short roll off one of Charlotte's patented guard-guard screening actions before sending Nurkic flying with a shot fake and feathering a midrange jump shot softly off the glass.

The pair was sublime at the Spectrum Center on Sunday night, and it harkened back to their days tearing up their opposition at Cameron Indoor Stadium as Duke Blue Devils.

'You know, Coach (Jon) Scheyer might as well be on the staff. He did such a a heck of a job laying a foundation with those guys. I owe him a lot,' said head coach Charles Lee following the 126-103 victory.

Charles Lee with some more on the budding partnership between Sion and Kon and how it has continued from their time at Duke. https://t.co/HA0qz7XvZn pic.twitter.com/l0ZArOlCva
— Matt Alquiza (@malquiza8) November 3, 2025

Both Knueppel and James were made available to the assembled media members after the win, and Kon waxed poetic about James and his overall impact on winning basketball.

'Sion is a great teammate. Obviously he has the physical advantages. He's a beast. Super strong, but he's such a smart player and it's easy to play with him. He doesn't make mistakes on defense. He's always making quick decisions on the offensive end, and right now he's shooting like 100% from three.'

'And if you do those things, you can play in this league for a long time.'

Tonight's win ended a three-game losing streak for the Hornets, but maybe more importantly, it could be looked at as a harbinger of what is to come for a Charlotte squad built around this impressive rookie class.

On top of Knueppel and James' standout performances, rookie center Ryan Kalkbrenner amassed eight combined blocks and steals against Utah's jumbo front court, more than holding his own against Markkanen, Jusuf Nurkic, and Kyle Filiposki.

Charlotte's next contest is on Tuesday night in the Big Easy against New Orleans, and it will be fascinating to see if the rookies can follow up their career nights with more solid two-way basketball against the Pelicans.