Knueppel leads Charlotte to NBA Summer League title — PHOTOS

Many of the top picks in last month’s NBA draft didn’t play much at this year’s Summer League in Las Vegas and opted to shut it down after just a game or two.

Not Charlotte Hornets forward Kon Knueppel. Not with the NBA Summer League championship on the line.

Knueppel, the fourth overall pick in this year’s draft, saved his best Summer League performance for the finale, scoring 21 points to lift No. 3 seed Charlotte to an 83-78 victory over fourth-seeded Sacramento to win the title Sunday night at the Thomas &Mack Center.

“They kept their composure. They are great people and once we got into the gym, we blended really quickly,” Charlotte Summer League coach Chris Jent said. “We kept it simple, about being together and competing and they rode the train all the way to the championship game.”

It’s the first Summer League title for Charlotte (6-0). Sacramento (5-1) was seeking its third.

“It’s a championship game. It better be like this,” Jent said of what he told his team as the game got close. “That’s what everybody wants to see anyway. It works out well. If you want to win a championship, you have to play through adversity. There’s going to be adversity in games and we did exactly that.”

Knueppel, listed at 6 feet 7 inches, was named the Summer League title game MVP. He added five rebounds and two assists. The former Duke standout showed consistent improvement throughout the Summer League, which started with a meager five-point effort in Charlotte’s first game.

Knueppel delivers

Jent and Knueppel credited Charlotte’s Summer League players with NBA experience for helping the Hornets develop quick chemistry during the 11-day event.

“It was good,” Knueppel said. “We wanted to compete and be together. Those are the two things we said when we stepped in the first day. Those older guys really helped install that in us and we say this each game.”

Knueppel delivered Charlotte’s biggest basket late in the fourth quarter as the Hornets went nearly four minutes without a point. He drilled a 3-pointer with 31 seconds left as Charlotte took a 78-74 lead.

It wasn’t the death knell for Sacramento, as Isaac Jones answered on the other end to make it a 78-77 game with 20 seconds left.

On the ensuing Charlotte possession, Knueppel hit one of two free throws. But the Hornets retained possession after the miss as the ball went out of bounds off Sacramento. Jaylen Sims made two free throws to make it an 81-77 Charlotte lead.

After Nique Clifford made one two free throws on the other end for Sacramento, Ryan Kalkbrenner secured the rebound and made two free throws to seal the win for Charlotte.

Kalkbrenner finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Sims and KJ Simpson each added 11 points.

‘We should win’

Knueppel was wearing a bandage above his right eye after he suffered a cut late in Charlotte’s semifinal win when he dove for a loose ball. Knueppel wore a Charlotte teal-colored headband to help hold the bandage.

He said “it sucked” wearing a headband for the first time, but any agitation went away quickly as he got the title game MVP trophy and Charlotte hoisted the Summer League trophy and received championship rings.

“If you’re going to come (to Summer League), we should win,” Knueppel said. “That’s what we did.”

Sacramento had life in the second half after chipping away at an early deficit. The Kings looked like they would make a run in the third quarter after a Flagrant 2 foul and the two made free throws cut Charlotte’s lead to seven.

Charlotte quickly answered with a 7-0 run in the next minute and Knueppel drilled a 3-pointer late in the third to help Charlotte stay ahead 67-56 entering the fourth quarter.

Sacramento never went away in the fourth. A Daeqwon Plowden 3-pointer and Clifford jumper helped the Kings cut the deficit to 75-72. Jones converted on a second-chance basket with 1:16 left to make it a one-point game, 75-74, with over a minute left.

Charlotte played a nearly clear first quarter to take an early double-digit lead. The Hornets committed just one turnover in the first 10 minutes and hit 12 of their first 17 shots.

Led Kalkbrenner, Simpson and Knueppel, Charlotte attacked the basket early and used a 10-2 run in the final three minutes to lead 34-18 after the first quarter.

Sacramento found its footing in the second quarter. Jones, the star on the Kings’ semifinal win on Saturday, and guard Devin Carter matched the early aggression shown by Charlotte as the two attacked the basket.

The Kings, which trailed by double digits most of the first half, closed the final 5:31 of the half on an 11-2 run to cut Charlotte’s lead to 46-39 at the halftime break.

Jones scored 24 points and added 11 rebounds to lead Sacramento. Devin Carter added 13 points and Clifford scored 10 for the Kings.

In Sunday’s consolation games, the Memphis Grizzlies rolled the Los Angeles Clippers 105-82, and the Boston Celtics defeated the Atlanta Hawks 101-80.

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.