Takeaways from the Charlotte Hornets' Gutty Win in Portland

That was a character-building win for the Charlotte Hornets.

The Portland Trail Blazers are a quality squad who play a physical, disruptive brand of basketball on both ends, and winning a game in their arena is never an easy task. Scoot Henderson, Donovan Clingan, and Deni Avdija came out swinging, and it was impressive to see how the Hornets answered throughout the entirety of the contest.

Below is a series of thoughts, highlights, and takeaways from the game, bundled into a neat package I like to call the four-point play.

1 Highlight of the Night

Kon Knueppel's game-winning charge

Do we think the Knueppel family takes charges in the famed Wisconsin men's league that Kon credits his advanced basketball IQ to?

According to Eric Collins, that the first charge Knueppel has drawn in his rookie season, and it couldn't have come at a better time. Jerami Grant blew past Brandon Miller on the perimeter with Portland down by one, and Knueppel slid over at the perfect time to help out his teammate.

"Oh, he saved me," said Miller after the game. "Winning play by Kon. That's all we ask for, everybody making winning plays, and Kon was in th eposition to make a play."

2 Game-Defining Statistics

+5 fourth quarter turnover margin
25 Hornets free throws attempted

The Hornets' fourth quarter defense had me ready to slap the floor in my home office.

Charlotte's individual defensive efforts up and down the roster were as good as I've seen all season. Josh Green, Grant Williams, and Moussa Diabate opened up the final stanza with their hair on fire, creating chaos on both offense and defense with relentless energy and effort to create extra possessions for Charlotte.

The Hornets' guards were dug into a stance and connected like the limbs of a marionette in order to slow down a Blazers attack that had racked up 82 points through three quarters. Major credit goes to Knueppel, Sion James, and LaMelo Ball who each had moments of brilliance against Portland's bull in a china shop offensive initiator, Deni Avdija.

On the other end of the floor, the Hornets cleaned up their offensive attack and found a way to create good looks without throwing the ball away. Charlotte racked up 16 turnovers in the first three quarters before only giving the ball away one single time in the fourth.

3 Players of the Game

Brandon Miller: 23 points, nine rebounds, four assists
Ryan Kalkbrenner: 14 points, six rebounds, two blocks
Sion James: 11 points, secen rebounds, one assist

Brandon Miller was an absolute maestro in the half court on Tuesday night.

His ability to operate screening actions as the ball handler was the Hornets' offensive fail safe that they returned to over and over again when things got stagnant. Miller only finished the game with four assists, but he diced up the Blazers with a number of high-level look-away reads that maniuplated Portland defenders.

Brandon Miller had it rolling as a passer in the first quarter last night.

His left to right crossover that he pulled out in the second clip was really working early in the game. pic.twitter.com/a7BjmHKZhd
— Matt Alquiza (@malquiza8) March 11, 2026

If his short mid-range jumper that he loves to go to when he pins a defender to his hip is falling, there's not much you can do to defend Miller in space right now.

LaMelo Ball's fourth quarter brilliance ended up being the defining offensive performance of the game (more on that later), but he may not have had a chance to play the hero if it wasn't for Kalkbrenner and James' second quarter exploits.

The pair of rookies were sublime on both ends, playing their roles on defense to perfection, while giving the Hornets just enough on offense to stay withing touching distance of the Blazers. These guys were second round picks just eight months ago -- it is astounding how productive they continue to be in meaningful games.

Cannot overstate how impressive it is that the Hornets are this reliant on rookies in meaningful games at this point in the season.

Sion James and Ryan Kalkbrenner were so good in this second quarter. pic.twitter.com/ht7tT7ZOmO
— Matt Alquiza (@malquiza8) March 11, 2026

4 Takeaways from the Win

1. LaMelo Ball's fourth quarter explosion

In the fourth quarter Charlotte started to set ball screens for LaMelo closer to half court, and he took advantage of the swaths of space that tweak created for him. Ball opened up the fourth quarter looking to get downhill, and his float game dragged the Hornets into the lead late.

He leveraged his consistent rack attacks into space to work on the perimeter, knocking down a pair of fourth quarter threes and a couple of assists, both ones that counted and those of the hockey variety, to finish off the Blazers.

It was a quiet night for Ball overall, but he was nails when it mattered.

2. Tre Mann's DNP-CD

The hierarchy in Charlotte's point guard room has been clearly established.

LaMelo Ball is the starter, Coby White is the backup, and Sion James is the 'break glass in case of emergency' option. I think it is more likely than not that Tre Mann will be suiting up elsewhere in 2026-27.

3. Miles Bridges' struggles

Bridges' scoring efficiency has fallen off a cliff since he returned from suspension.

In his eight games back in the Hornets' starting lineup, Miles' effective field goal percentage of 43.9% is in the 0th percentile among NBA wings -- same with his 48% shooting percentage at the rim. Unfortunately, the veteran power forward hasn't been able to connect from long-range either, as Bridges is shooting just 30% from downtown during the stretch.

Grant Williams closed the game against Miami, and if Bridges continues to shoot it this poorly while contributing to Charlotte's turnover problems, he is likely to get usurped by Williams more frequently.

4. Looking ahead

Wednesday night's game in Sacramento is a must-win.

Orlando, Philadelphia, Miami, and Atlanta are on a combined 18-game win streak after last night's games, and Charlotte can't afford to drop a game against the lowly Kings if they want to climb out of the East's 10 seed.

It won't be easy after Tuesday night's emotional win in Portland, but Charlotte continues to be one of the league's premier team's on the second-night of a back-to-back.

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