Duo Knuppel-Bridges brought down the Raptors in overtime!

Kon Knuepel with the Hornets Toronto thought it was well on its way to securing a 10th straight win. And then everything fell apart!

The duo of Knuepel-Sexton (20 and 18 points) provided great support to LaMelo Ball, who was spared at the end of the match, and Miles Bridges (35 points) made the last push in overtime and enabled Charlotte to win its second consecutive victory, the first this season!

It all started well for the Canadians, starting with a 21-7 victory capped by Immanuel Quickley’s kick up the middle. Moussa Diabate tried to sound the riot with a dunk and a well-made ball for a Liam McNeely (19-29) three, but Toronto managed to keep the distance, between Jamal Sheed’s three in reply, then those of Sandro Mamukelasvili and Immanuel Quickley at the start of 3-2-44.

Once again, Moussa Diabate stepped up to help close the gap before the break, with two more baskets, including a dunk and an assist on a 3-pointer by Colin Sexton to put the Hornets within -6 at the break (52-58).

Miles Bridges dominates at the end of the match

Charlotte was able to stay in touch with more enterprising contributions from LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges, like Bridges’ ferocious dunk to put the Raptors back in possession (79-77). The Raptors answered with 8-2 at the end of the third quarter before getting back to +12 thanks to the work of the Quickley-Burns tandem and then two consecutive baskets by Sandro Mamukelasvili (88-100).

In just over five minutes, Charlotte then managed to finish strong and win in overtime, with determined defensive sequences, the physical impact delivered by Miles Bridges in bulldozer mode, and a touch of outside skill. After Colin Sexton’s three-pointer gave the whole group hope two minutes from the end (98-100), Kon Knuepel was really the one who had the composure to tie the game at 104-104 from the corner, catching a free throw that Miles Bridges missed a few seconds earlier (104-104).

Brandon Ingram’s last-ditch attempt sent the two teams into overtime, five more minutes dominated by Miles Bridges, who delivered 10 of his 14 points for the Hornets in a 118-111 victory. After scoring his team’s first 8 points, the winger had fun by hitting an alley-oop serve from Brandon Miller. Amazing!

WHAT TO REMEMBER

– End of series for the Raptors. In addition to losing on the floor to one of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference, Toronto missed a great opportunity to sign the tenth success in the series. Darko Rajaković’s team may have put their foot down a little too early, and the Hornets took the opportunity to come back and win in overtime. Frustrating for a Toronto team that hasn’t lost in nearly three weeks and now finds itself under pressure from New York, its “back-to-back” opponent tonight, who is still away.

– Le sang-froid by Cohn Knuppel. Down 3 with ten seconds left, Charles Lee bet on his rookie’s quick 3-pointer to try and force overtime. Faced with Brandon Ingram, the latter responded with a little feint (a la Vince Carter) before unleashing a shot from the corner: thong! Further proof, if any were needed, of the talent and also the lucidity of Cooper’s former Duke teammate.

– Miles Bridges Finale. The wing did a hell of a job, and that was all it took to compete with Toronto, while Brandon Miller missed completely (1/13 shooting). Miles Bridges was there in the big moments, especially when he needed to get his head up early in the game, and especially in overtime with his 10 points that ultimately took down the Raptors. His best game since the start of the season with 35 points, 13/23 shooting.

– LaMelo Ball spared. The success is all the sweeter for the Hornets because it was achieved without the help of LaMelo Ball in the finals. Still under the minutes limit for this “back-up”, the leader left the floor a little more than 8 minutes into the fourth quarter, finishing the match with 14 points and 5 assists.

https://vvv.youtube.com/vatch?v=MoM6jkpk9DA

Charlotte / 118		Shots			Rebounds
Players	Min	Shots	3pts	LF	O	D	T	Pd	Ft	Int	Bp	Ct	+/-	Pts	Eval
M. Bridges	41	13/23	2/8	7/9	1	2	3	0	3	1	0	0	+7	35	27
B. Miller	25	1/13	0/6	5/5	1	1	2	3	2	0	1	2	-7	7	1
R. Kalkbrenner	22	3/4	0/0	2/2	2	4	6	2	0	1	0	1	-15	8	17
L. Ball	22	6/16	1/6	1/1	0	2	2	5	4	0	2	0	-10	14	9
K. Knueppel	37	5/10	4/7	6/6	0	6	6	4	3	2	2	0	+3	20	25
M. Diabetes	30	3/5	0/0	1/2	4	5	9	2	4	1	0	0	+19	7	16
C. Secton	33	6/11	2/5	4/4	0	1	1	5	0	3	3	1	+23	18	20
T. Mann	11	0/2	0/2	0/0	1	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	-5	0	0
A. Reeves	—	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
S. James	30	1/5	0/3	0/0	2	4	6	2	2	1	0	1	+13	2	8
L. McNeeley	13	3/4	1/2	0/0	1	2	3	0	0	1	1	0	+7	7	9
In total		41/93	10/39	26/29	12	27	39	24	19	10	9	5		118

Toronto / 111		Shots			Rebounds
Players	Min	Shots	3pts	LF	O	D	T	Pd	Ft	Int	Bp	Ct	+/-	Pts	Eval
B. Ingram	40	10/26	1/5	1/2	1	5	6	4	2	0	3	0	-11	22	12
S. Barnes	39	11/16	1/2	7/8	3	9	12	5	3	2	3	1	-6	30	41
J. Poeltl	33	4/6	0/0	0/0	5	6	11	9	4	2	3	1	-5	8	26
I. Quickley	37	9/20	3/8	1/1	1	2	3	10	2	0	3	0	-5	22	21
J. Walter	27	1/3	1/2	2/2	2	5	7	0	5	0	1	0	-6	5	9
S. Mamukelashvili	19	5/10	1/2	2/2	1	2	3	0	1	0	0	0	-1	13	11
C. Murray-Boyles	13	0/1	0/0	1/2	3	1	4	2	2	2	1	0	+2	1	6
O. Broken	16	1/5	0/1	0/0	0	1	1	1	2	0	0	1	+4	2	1
J. Shead	23	1/6	1/5	0/0	0	3	3	2	2	0	0	0	-9	3	3
Mr. Dick	18	2/6	1/4	0/0	1	1	2	1	3	0	1	0	+2	5	3
In total		44/99	9/29	14/17	17	35	52	34	26	6	15	3		111

How to read statistics? Min = Minute; Shots = Shots Successful / Shots Attempted; 3 points = 3 points / attempt 3 points; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive jump; T = Total number of jumps; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal mistakes; Int = intercepts; Bp = lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = point difference when the player is on the court; Points = Points; Rating: player rating calculated based on positive actions – negative actions.

2025-11-30 05:35:00