Takeaways from the Charlotte Hornets' tight loss to Steph Curry and the Warriors

It's going to take more than a third quarter flurry punctuated by a couple of deep LaMelo Ball three-pointers to knock out a team with championship pedigree like these Golden State Warriors.

Although the Charlotte Hornets sparred with Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Jimmy Butler for the majority of this afternoon's contest, Golden State had just enough in the tank to escape the Queen City with a gritty victory over the hosts.

Below are a series of thoughts, stats, and highlights from the game bundled into a neat package called the four-point play.

1 Highlight of the Afternoon

Brandon Miller drives baseline for the vicious slam

The third-year swingman better have TSA pre-check, because he won't stop taking flight to dunk the basketball. Miller threw down a trio of nasty dunks against Golden State, none better than this first quarter tone-setter that the Warriors were helpless to slow down.

.@brandmillerr LEVITATES to the rim 💥

VOTE BRANDON ⭐️ https://t.co/oQJmNeBler | @FDSN_Hornets pic.twitter.com/1FGMqPtuyZ
— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) December 31, 2025

2 Game-Defining Stats

Warriors 69.9% effective field goal percentage

15 Hornets turnovers

Stephen Curry finished the game with 26 points on 9/16 from the field, but it wasn't for the Hornets' lack of trying on defense.

Collin Sexton, Josh Green, Brandon Miller, and Sion James face guarded the two-time MVP for 94-feet, attempting to make life difficult for Curry by playing with supreme physicality the length of the floor. In their attempt to slow him down, the Hornets sent a myriad of double teams at Steph when he came flying through a guantlet off-ball actions, and the Warriors' role players took advantage of their open looks.

Golden State shot 24/49 from three (49%) and 46/83 from the field (55%) in their most efficient shooting game of the season per Cleaning the Glass.

Charles Lee's primary objective when facing a true blue superstar like Curry or Giannis Antetekounmpo is to limit their production and put the game in the hands of their teammates, and both the Bucks and Warriors' 'others' took advantage this week.

On the other end of the floor, Charlotte was able to limit their turnovers for the majority of the game. However, they came at inopportune times throughout the second half. The Hornets generally go as their turnovers go, and as they mounted in Uptown this afternoon, so did the Warriors' lead.

3 Players of the Game

Brandon Miller - 33 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 14/29 shooting
LaMelo Ball - 27 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 9/13 shooting
Kon Knueppel - 20 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 7/11 shooting

Charlotte's 'big three' showed up. Each of them had their moments to carry the offense and they all delivered for stretches. The seven other Hornets who played this afternoon combined to make only two of their eleven three-point attempts which isn't going to cut it in a shootout with Golden State.

Miller put on his bucket-getting hat with Miles Bridges out of the lineup, and it seemed from afar that he was tasked with shouldering more of the scoring load with Bridges' 19.9 points per game in street clothes.

Following the contest, Miller was asked about the malleability of his role, going from play maker to scorer to defensive ace, when Charlotte has players rotating in and out of the starting five.

'I think that's just the trust that we have as a team. Like I said, just doing whatever my teammates trust me to do, whether it's handling the ball sometimes, or coming off this pin down, or if it's guarding. Just trying to do everything I can to win a ball game.'

LaMelo Ball continues to shoot the lights out. Charlotte's star point guard poured in seven more tonight to lead the team, and he's firing away with the swagger of a NASCAR veteran (thanks for that one Eric Collins).

To compliment his shooting acumen, Ball made a myriad of small, but impactful plays on defense and the glass this afternoon. He didn't quite put together a perfect all-around game (five turnovers and a few ill-fated early shot clock three-point attempts scorn it slightly), but this was one of Ball's best outings of the season.

4 Takeaways from the Loss

1. Kon Knueppel is a 'capital D' Dog

If my ankle folded like Kon's did on Friday I would be on bedrest for six to eight weeks minimum.

He said postgame that he started rehabilitating his injury during the third quarter of the Magic game, and if you already forgot or blocked out the site of him laying on the floor out of your mind...he got hurt in the second quarter of that same game.

He showed no ill affects of the injury this afternoon and put together the now typical efficient, two-way performance that we've come to expect from him.

2. Charlotte has the ultimate faith in Sion James

Sion James has only played in 33 NBA games but the roster of players he has guarded as a primary assignment looks like an All-Star team.

He was tasked with chasing the tireless, slippery, greatest-off-ball-player-in-NBA-history Steph Curry for the majority of his minutes this afternoon, and he did an admirable job.

'I loved his physicality. I think he had a great knack for understanding how to navigate screens even as they were trying to set off-ball, or they're trying to get him into a pick and roll, his mindset just to refuse to be screened, refuse to take his attention off of Curry was really important' said Charles Lee following the loss.

3. Tidjane Salaün's improvement as a driver is staggering

Tidjane continued to come off the bench even with Miles Bridges sidelined, and he continued to show baby steps in his progression as an NBA rotation player.

He finished today's contest with six points, but four of them came on the type of physical, decisive drive that he wasn't quite capable of as a rookie. Salaün has intoxicating physical tools, and he's beginning to figure out how to leverage them when he gets matched up with a smaller defender.

4. Charlotte's overall team development is right on track

This is the exact type of game you expect a team like Charlotte to play at this point in their developmental arc. Hang tight with a good, not great team, for 40ish minutes before falling short at the end.

If you zoom out and ignore the final result, individual moments from each of the Hornets' young players continue to point to a sterling future in the Queen City.

A backdoor cut from Sion James that ends in a layup from a slick Liam McNeeley bounce pass.

A one-dribble pull-up three-pointer from Kon Knueppel.

An offensive flurry counducted by LaMelo Ball's maestro-like playmaking.

A two-way sequence from Brandon Miller that starts with a smart defensive play.

The 2026 playoffs aren't the end goal for this iteration of the Hornets, but they're continuing to build something special with this group, and the signs couldn't be more evident.