Liam McNeeley Responds to Rough Preseason Opener With Strong Hornets Performance

Liam McNeeley turned the ball over 6 times in the Oct. 6 preseason opener against the Brooklyn Nets.

Five days later, he had 5 assists and no turnovers.

The Charlotte Hornets beat the Milwaukee Bucks 105-90 on Sunday night at Spectrum Center. McNeeley scored 11 points and added 2 steals, and his 5 assists led the team.

Charlotte had 29 assists on 39 made field goals. Milwaukee had 23. Dennis Schröder, Brandon Miller, and Sion James had 4 apiece.

Brooklyn won the opener 124-90, and the Hornets committed 25 turnovers that night.

Hornets coach Charles Lee said turnovers were one of the areas McNeeley wanted to clean up after that game.

"Anytime you challenge Liam, he's going to respond," Lee said. "That's what's so impressive about him. It's impressive about our group. It becomes contagious. He took, like you said, accountability for how he played. He knew he wanted to get better in a lot of different areas. And I thought the turnover thing was one of them."

"But then also I thought his defensive impact," Lee continued. "And just no matter making shots, missing shots, you have so much more to give to the game. And I thought that he just stayed consistently confident tonight and engaged with whatever was asked of him."

McNeeley led Charlotte in scoring in the loss to Brooklyn. He turned 21 the day before the Milwaukee game.

The Phoenix Suns drafted him 29th overall out of UConn in 2025, and Charlotte acquired his rights June 30, 2025, in the trade that sent Mark Williams to Phoenix.

Charlotte also got Vasilije Micić and a 2029 first-round pick in that deal, and Phoenix received a 2029 second-round pick. The Hornets drafted Kon Knueppel fourth overall in that same draft.

McNeeley, a Richardson, Texas, native, was the Big East Freshman of the Year after averaging 14.5 points for the Huskies.

In 18 games with the G League's Greensboro Swarm last season, 16 of them starts, McNeeley averaged 19.6 points and 3.2 assists in 31.4 minutes.

Charlotte has until Oct. 31 to decide on his third-year option for 2027-28.

At practice Monday, Lee said the opener included a couple of charges and moving screens, with screeners and ball handlers alike playing too fast.

"I thought we did a much better job of playing with the pass," Lee explained. "I thought in that first game, we played in crowds too much. We had a couple charges. I think we had a couple moving screens, guys playing too fast, whether it be the screener or the ball handler. And I thought that this game, we just respected space a little bit better. Our running habits were better. We weren't playing in crowds. We were more willing to make the better rim reads. And so I just love the activity offensively and the togetherness."

Coby White is out with a calf injury, and Kon Knueppel is out with a hamstring injury. Neither has played this preseason.

Lee laid out his biggest expectations for this group last week.

Pushing the pace makes defenses switch up their coverages, Miller said.

"I think just playing to our strengths," Miller said. "Obviously, we're going to play fast with the kick-aheads, of course. I think we did, executed that at a high clip tonight. I think when we play fast, it kind of — I think it makes teams switch up their coverages more than likely at the time. So just having that option to play fast and then knowing when we can slow down and play half-court game is always an advantage for us."

The Hornets led 60-45 at halftime and 87-67 after three quarters. Milwaukee won the fourth quarter 23-18.

Charlotte is 1-1 in the preseason, and the Bucks are 1-2.

Miller, back from a shin contusion that kept him out of the opener, led Charlotte with 18 points. Naz Reid had 16.

After the preseason closes Friday in Memphis and the regular season opens Oct. 21 in Brooklyn, Charlotte plays its home opener Oct. 23 against the Atlanta Hawks at 7 p.m. ET.