Mavericks Hosting Surging Hornets While Retiring Legend's Number

The Dallas Mavericks are back on a losing streak, having lost the last two games against the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves. It's now the second night of a back-to-back for the Mavericks, and they're going to be facing the red-hot... Charlotte Hornets?

For the casual NBA fans, no team has been a bigger surprise in January than the Hornets. Since the start of the year, they're 9-6, but they've been road warriors, knocking off the Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets, LA Lakers, Philadelphia 76ers, and others. They're 7-3 on the road this month, and their wins away from home have come by a ridiculous average of 25.4 PPG. They also enter this game riding a four-game winning streak after beating the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, and they've already won more games this year (20) than they did last year (19).

A big reason for this surge has been the return of Brandon Miller. The talented third-year player has dealt with a lot of injuries in his career, but in the 14 games he's played this month, he's averaging 21.7 PPG and 5.1 RPG on nearly 50/40/90 shooting. He just put up 30 points and 8 rebounds against the 76ers a few days ago, and is living up to his draft billing.

LaMelo Ball has also been healthy this month, and since they have Brandon Miller back, Ball can focus on dishing dimes to Miller and star rookie Kon Knueppel, who has been an electric shooter this year. Knueppel, who was teammates with Cooper Flagg at Duke last year, is averaging 18.6 PPG while shooting 43.1% from three. He's already knocked down 153 three-pointers, which is not too far away from breaking Keegan Murray's rookie record of 206. He should break that in about 15 games or so.

Jan 5, 2026; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel (7) runs down the court during a play against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

This would be a fun potential battle for Rookie of the Year, but Cooper Flagg missed Wednesday's game as he deals with a sore left ankle. They could have held him out for that loss against the Timberwolves in hopes he'd play tonight. The first overall pick has mostly been sensational this year, but the fight for the Rookie of the Year with his college teammate has been a little unexpected.

The Mavericks will be retiring Mark Aguirre's jersey on Thursday night, who was the franchise's only first overall pick until Cooper Flagg this year. Aguirre's relationship with the franchise had been rocky over the years, but they're back on solid footing now, and the organization's third-leading scorer will see his name in the rafters alongside Dirk Nowitzki, Derek Harper, Brad Davis, and Rolando Blackman.