Charles Lee Praises Hornets’ Depth After Grayson Allen Steps Up

Grayson Allen scored 21 points off the bench in his first regular-season game with the Charlotte Hornets, who beat the Brooklyn Nets 110-103 on Wednesday night at Barclays Center without two of their projected starters.

Allen shot 6-of-9 from the field, 5-of-8 from 3-point range, and 4-of-4 at the free-throw line. He added 3 rebounds and 4 assists, committed 4 turnovers, and was a plus-20 in 28:48.

Kon Knueppel and Coby White did not play. The Hornets announced Tuesday that both players, along with Grant Williams, had returned to individual work and were going through a return-to-play plan.

Knueppel injured his left hamstring during offseason on-court activity, and the team announced the injury Sept. 25. White strained his left calf during training camp. Williams was listed with a right hamstring strain.

On Sunday, Hornets coach Charles Lee said there was still no timeline for Knueppel or White.

As a rookie last season, Knueppel led the NBA in 3-pointers made and finished second to Cooper Flagg in Rookie of the Year voting. White re-signed with Charlotte in July on a three-year, $74 million contract.

Charlotte's reserves outscored Brooklyn's 33-25, and Lee said a bunch of players on the roster made really good contributions.

"All year, or I should say all year, all training camp, all preseason, we've talked about just being able to do this thing by committee," Lee said. "We need everybody. We need all hands on deck. Unfortunately, if someone is injured, the next guy has to step up and be ready to impact the game."

"And because these guys all work so hard and they're obsessed with their daily improvement, I know that they have earned the trust of myself and the coaching staff," Lee continued. "So I feel very comfortable whenever we go into a game, healthy or injured, 'cause I know we got a ton of really good bodies on this team to play."

Allen and Royce O'Neale came from the Phoenix Suns on July 13 in the trade that sent Miles Bridges to Phoenix.

Allen, now in his ninth NBA season, was the 21st pick in the 2018 draft out of Duke. In 2023-24, he shot 46.1% from 3-point range for the Suns. He will earn $18,125,000 this season, and O'Neale will earn $10,875,000.

O'Neale scored 8 points on 3-of-6 shooting, including 2-of-5 from beyond the arc, and grabbed 4 rebounds in 17:09. He finished plus-15.

Last season with Phoenix, O'Neale averaged 9.8 points and shot 40.8% from 3-point range.

Ryan Kalkbrenner was a plus-22 in 13:58 at center.

Christian Anderson Jr., the 18th overall pick in June, played 13:19 in his NBA debut and finished with 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals.

Liam McNeeley played 3:18. Hannes Steinbach, the 14th overall pick, did not play, and neither did PJ Hall or Tidjane Salaün.

Sion James started in the backcourt with Dennis Schröder and scored 3 points on 1-of-7 shooting in 26:49.

A 1-0 start is always a good record for Brandon Miller, and Charlotte got there without Knueppel and White.

"I think the way that we fight against adversity," Miller said. "Obviously, we had a little adversity going into it. [In] the second half, I think we just came together as a team and just talked about what we need to focus on. I feel like that's how we run, and we focus on the controllables, and that's what gave us the win tonight."

The Hornets play the Atlanta Hawks at home Friday at 7 p.m. ET.

The Hornets said Tuesday that more information on Knueppel, White, and Williams would come as appropriate.