Takeaways from the Charlotte Hornets' wire-to-wire win over the Atlanta Hawks

All-Star Weekend is upon us and the Charlotte Hornets have earned their time off.

The Hornets defeated the Atlanta Hawks 110-107 on Wednesday night, and accomplished three major milestones in process.

1. Snatched the ninth seed from Atlanta. If the Play-In Tournament started today, the Hornets would host their first postseason game at the Spectrum Center since the infamous 'Purple Shirt Guy Game' in 2016.

2. Clinched the season series over Atlanta. In the event of a tie between these two teams (which looks increasingly less likely every game due to the direction each franchise is trending), the Hornets would finish ahead of the Hawks.

3. Ended the first half-ish of the season as hot as any team in the league. The Hornets are one of two teams (Cleveland being the other) to boast a 9-1 record in their last ten games before the break.

Enjoy it. The Hornets have established themselves as a team that nobody wants to face in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, creating a buzz in the Queen City that hasn't reverberated in nearly a decade.

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

1 Highlight of the Night

Brandon Miller does it again

Brandon Miller's dunk catalog can rival just about anybody in the league's. Not only has the third-year wing established himself as a budding two-way star, he has firmly put his name in the conversation for the NBA's best in-game dunker.

another dunk for @brandmillerr 🥶#HiveMentality | 📹 @FDSN_Hornets pic.twitter.com/o8hYSSJZ5K
— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) February 12, 2026

2 Game-Defining Stats

Charlotte's 33.9% offensive rebounding percentage
Charlotte's 22 deflections

The Hornets' plan to aggregate Moussa Diabate's prowess on the offensive glass while the big man is suspended was something I was watching out for last night.

It wasn't an issue at all.

Instead of relying on Moussa's individual brilliance, Charlotte swarmed the offensive glass as a team and continued to dominate the boards even without their tone-setter. Grant Williams pulled down four offensive rebounds (a season-high), Ryan Kalkbrenner pulled down four (and created a couple of opportunities for more with his Moose-like activity), and PJ Hall pulled down four off the bench.

When asked about Charlotte's recent form, Kon Knueppel pointed to the defensive end of the floor as the catalyst. "I really think just defensively, our attention to detail and our competitiveness on that end...But I think the biggest reason is our change of mindset a little bit on the defensive end."

The Hornets have the league's third-best defense in the new year, and they normally do it by playing a conservative approach that tries to limit corner threes, limit attempts at the rim, and allow non-shooters to fire away from deep. Because of that, the Hornets average the second-least amount of deflections per game (14.3) in the NBA.

On Wednesday night, whether it was a change in philosphy or a match-up dependent schematic shift, it felt like the Hornets were a little more aggressive on the defensive end. They ended the game with 22 deflections, forcing 13 Atlanta turnovers, and finding a way to impact the possession battle outside of dominating the glass.

3 Players of the Game

Brandon Miller: 31 points, nine rebounds, two assists, one steal, two blocks
LaMelo Ball: 24 points, four rebounds, six assists, one steal
Kon Knueppel: 18 points, six rebounds, four assists, two steals, one block

Another game that had Charlotte's star players fingerprints all over it.

Knueppel carried the torch in the first quarter, blitzing the Hawks' over-aggressive defense with a quartet of three-pointers that flexed his versatility as a shooter.

Kon Knueppel’s versatility as a shooter was on fully display in last night’s first quarter:

- Knocks down one in transition
- One in the half court where he creates an acre of space from NAW
- Two one-dribble pull-ups going right and left, using ball screens expertly pic.twitter.com/QJBdhjSjz0
— Matt Alquiza (@malquiza8) February 12, 2026

LaMelo was brilliant throughout the contest, knocking down seven threes on a ludicous 18 attempts, and even impacting the game on defense. Charles Lee mentioned postgame that his staff challenged Ball at halftime to improve his play on the defensive end of the floor.

Ball came through, according to his head coach. "Atlanta's gameplan seemed like they were trying to put him in every action. And so to make him (Ball) aware of it, to let him see the plays in our film session of how they're trying to attack him and then for him to step up, I thought it was big time."

This possession was the one I had in mind when Charles mentioned how his staff pushed LaMelo to be better on defense in the second half.

He did a great job moving his feet and playing physical defense on NAW to force him into the tough fadeaway. https://t.co/9xgu9F4txE pic.twitter.com/48ZRnDz98p
— Matt Alquiza (@malquiza8) February 12, 2026

Before the 2024-25 season, Brandon Miller said that his goal was to become 'an elite two-way' player, and we're watching him blossom into exactly that right now. Everybody knows about Miller's prowess as a scorer, but his defensive IQ won Charlotte the game.

His play to knock the ball away from Onyeka Okongwu in the final seconds sealed the win for the Hornets, and although it won't end up on Miller's season-long highlight reel, it will be remembered as one of the more impactful games of his sterling campaign.

4 Takeaways From the Victory

1. Welcome back, Ryan Kalkbrenner

Don't look at the box score to judge the rookie center's impact.

Kalkbrenner's stat line: five points, six rebounds, one assist, two steals, two blocks; is nothing to write home about. However, his impact was palpable.

Atlanta had to worry about Kalkbrenner's imposing size every time they drove into the paint, and Charlotte's back-up center did a wonderful job at timing his jumps to deter Hawks attempts at the rim. It was an impressive showing for a player who continues to do a good job when called upon.

2. Signs of life from Tre Mann

Another one where you need to rely on the eye test.

Mann only scored five points. He didn't pull down a rebound. He didn't dish a single assist.

But he did nab two fourth quarter steals that really mattered in the nip-and-tuck contest. The Hornets don't need Tre Mann to be the microwave, game-changing scorer they signed him to be. They need Mann to get Charlotte's bench units organized, keep the ball moving, and play solid defense on the perimeter.

Check, check, and check in the win.

"He can do great things on both ends of the floor," said Charles Lee after the win, "so I'm glad that he didn't let his offense kind of dictate his defensive impact. Because when he plays like that, our group gets really excited."

3. Sion James -- Mr. Buzzer Beater

Sion James did it again.

The rookie guard sent the Hornets into the half time break on a high note with a buzzer-beating trey to close out the second quarter. That's two makes in two games at the horn for Sion, and I'm starting to get flashbacks from Payton Pritchard's ridiculous end-of-quarter shooting display from the 2023 NBA Playoffs.

4. A changing of expectations

This Hornets team goes into every game knowing that they can win. What does that mean for their ceiling?

At this point, I firmly believe the Play-In Tournament is the floor for Charlotte. They're just three games back of the seven seed in the East, which would give them two chances to win a game on their home floor to clinch the franchise's first playoff berth since 2016.

At this point, I believe that the big boy playoffs are the expectation, not the hope for this squad.

- MORE STORIES FROM CHARLOTTE HORNETS ON SI -

BPI Updates Charlotte Hornets' Potential Playoff Chances + Projected Seed

What the Numbers Say About the Charlotte Hornets' First Half of the Season

Hornets Render Suspensions Irrelevant in Win Versus Atlanta

Moussa Diabaté Comments on the Fight Following Suspension and Fine From the NBA