The Duke Brotherhood has two more studs, former roommates in Durham, that are going to be giving the NBA all kind of problems for years to come. Tonight, in the Charlotte Hornets fifth straight win, Kon Knueppel put up 34 points, hit eight threes, and came up one three shy of tying the all time three record in a game. Cooper Flagg, on the other side, had 49 points which is the most by a teenager in NBA history.

It came down to the final seconds, as so many games have for Charlotte this year. However, right now in the month of January, the Hornets have been a completely new team. One might argue that they aren't a new time. Just finally blooming from the foundation that they have spent the first several months of the season creating.

With four seconds left and the game tied, Sion James had a terrific hustle play to save a ball around mid-court from going out of bounds, he tosses it back in to a driving Kon Knueppel, and he gets fouled and sent to the line by Cooper Flagg. Both free throws to the bottom and the Hornets got the win by a final of 123-121

It was a sequence that you just know every Duke fan was loving. Unless you're a Mavs fan, of course. 

This game, if it wasn't already established, officially made the rookie of the year race a two man race between Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel. That's with respect to VJ Edgecombe. The Vegas numbers show that, as well.

Right now, Cooper Flagg has -375 odds to win and Kon Knueppel comes in with +250 odds. There's a significant drop off between Kon and VJ Edgecombe with VJ having +2500 odds.

In terms of the Hornets side to this, it's the fifth straight win now for Charlotte and are 6-1 in their last seven games. This isn't a fluke, this is momentum. They are completely looking like a team headed for the playoffs if they keep this up.  

Hornets fans have been waiting so long for games that felt like this. Nail biter to the final seconds, having a stud of your own going toe to toe with whoever the stud is on the other side. Meaningful basketball.

The Hornets have a good one in Kon Knueppel. He's been a massive piece of the culture shift taking place right before our eyes. It's safe to say Dallas has one too.