If the last two nights have felt eerily similar for the Charlotte Hornets, it’s because they’ve looked like exactly what they are right now — a team trying to navigate meaningful games without two of their five starters.
On night one of a back-to-back, Charlotte went punch-for-punch with Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets before ultimately falling by four. Less than 24 hours later, it was more of the same against a Cleveland team led by Donovan Mitchell and James Harden, with the Hornets coming up just five points short.
Competitive? Absolutely. Complete? Not quite.
And that’s where the absence of Moussa Diabate and Miles Bridges continues to loom large.
Without Diabate anchoring the middle, Charlotte has had a noticeably harder time finishing defensive possessions. Against Houston, second-chance opportunities piled up at the worst possible times.
Against Cleveland, the Cavs found ways to generate interior looks late — not necessarily by blowing by defenders, but by simply sticking with possessions long enough for Charlotte’s thinner frontcourt to crack.
Then there’s Bridges — whose absence has arguably been felt most when games slow down in the fourth quarter.
In both losses, LaMelo Ball saw increased defensive attention late, forcing the ball out of his hands in key moments. Normally, that’s where Bridges steps in as a secondary creator to stabilize the offense and keep Charlotte out of late-clock situations. Instead, the Hornets were left searching for answers — leading to rushed possessions that stalled out just enough to swing the game.
That’s not to say there weren’t bright spots.
Kon Knueppel was electric tonight against Cleveland, pouring in 33 points on 7-of-13 shooting from three while grabbing six rebounds and — maybe most impressively — committing zero turnovers. On tired legs in the second night of a back-to-back, he provided the kind of offensive efficiency Charlotte desperately needed just to stay within striking distance.
But against elite shot-makers on consecutive nights, being shorthanded shrinks your margin for error to almost nothing.
And right now, the Hornets are finding out in real time how thin that margin can be.
Two close losses. Two games within reach late. The fact that Charlotte kept both of these games close against two of the better teams in their respective conferences is a pretty good sign.