Brandon Miller Ruled Out With Right Groin Soreness vs. Celtics

Brandon Miller will not return Friday night after leaving in the second quarter with right groin soreness, the Charlotte Hornets announced.

Hornets PR posted the update at 8:03 p.m. ET. Before heading to the locker room, Miller had 8 points on 3-of-10 shooting, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal in 14 minutes. All 8 of his points came in the first quarter.

The Boston Celtics led 70-39 at halftime at Spectrum Center in an NBA Cup group-play game. Jayson Tatum had 24 points in the first half.

Moussa Diabaté and Dennis Schröder were downgraded from questionable to out Friday afternoon, Diabaté with right quadriceps tendinopathy and Schröder with left thigh soreness. Each was missing his first game of the season. Diabaté had started all nine games.

Kon Knueppel was out again with a left hamstring strain. On Wednesday at Brooklyn, he left his season debut after 5 minutes, 51 seconds with left leg soreness. The strain had already cost him the first eight games.

His next evaluation was set for Charlotte, where the Hornets flew after the loss.

"No, I don't have an update yet," Hornets coach Charles Lee said. "We'll evaluate him more, obviously, when we get home from the road trip tonight."

Grant Williams, out with a right hamstring strain, has not played this season. The Hornets recalled Hannes Steinbach and Christian Anderson Jr. from the Greensboro Swarm on Friday.

Charlotte opened the season 3-1. It entered Friday at 3-6 after five straight losses, including a 124-91 loss to Detroit on Monday and a 114-104 loss at Brooklyn on Wednesday.

His 22.0 points per game led the Hornets entering Friday. Over nine games, he was also averaging 5.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists. Miller topped 30 points for a third straight game on Oct. 28. Detroit won that one 97-89.

At Washington two nights later, he shot 7-of-24 and scored 19 in a 95-79 loss.

Brooklyn held him to 2-of-15 shooting Wednesday, including 1-of-10 from three. All 5 of his free throws went in, and he finished with 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 assist.

Lee said the competitive spirit and physicality of the group were there all night against the Nets.

"That's part of the game," Lee explained. "That's part of who Brandon is as well. So, not surprised that he wasn't going to let his offensive struggles dictate how he was going to respond and act, and his actions and competitiveness defensively. So that doesn't surprise me. That's how the whole group is. Now we just got to find a way to keep going, keep building, because there's a ton of really good moments in there."

On Oct. 19, the day of the rookie-scale extension deadline, Charlotte agreed to a five-year, $209 million extension with Miller. It begins with the 2027-28 season. This season is the last on his rookie contract.

In a win at Utah on Jan. 15, 2025, Miller tore the scapholunate ligament in his right wrist. He had surgery and finished that season with 27 appearances.

Miller suffered a left shoulder subluxation at Philadelphia on Oct. 25, 2025. It was Charlotte's second game of the season, and he missed the next 13.

When he returned Nov. 22 against the LA Clippers, the shoulder was wrapped, and it stayed wrapped the rest of the way. All 65 of his appearances were starts. He led the team in scoring at 20.2 points per game.

On May 6, he had surgery to address instability in that shoulder. The Hornets listed him out indefinitely and gave no timeline.

By media day on Sept. 28, Miller had been cleared for full contact for about three weeks.

"I'm back now doing a lot better," Miller said. "I think the most important thing throughout this process, which is staying connected with my teammates. They did a great job of just keeping me focused on the controllables that I can control during my rehab and just kinda having that mindset throughout the summer has guided me back to where I'm at now."

Training camp opened Sept. 29, and he played in three preseason games before the opener at Brooklyn.

Charlotte hosts the Cleveland Cavaliers at 7 p.m. ET on Monday, then plays at Phoenix on Thursday.