Hornets
Kon Knueppel’s return lasted six minutes. Now the Hornets are waiting again.
Knueppel has been diagnosed with a left hamstring strain and ruled out for Friday’s game against the Celtics, the team announced. No return timetable was provided.
He had missed the first eight games with a strain in the same hamstring before leaving Wednesday’s loss to the Nets. It’s unclear whether he aggravated the previous injury or sustained a new strain.
Either way, the Hornets are 3-6 and still waiting to get their sharpshooter back for more than a brief appearance.
Nets
Julius Randle’s most useful late-game decision Wednesday may have been telling his coach to leave him on the bench.
With the Nets pulling away from the Hornets, Jordi Fernandez intended to bring Randle back. Randle preferred to let the group on the floor finish the job.
“I call him in to sub in and then they take it to 10 or 11 and he’s the one, just let them roll,” Fernandez told reporters, via Sameer Kumar of Sports Illustrated.
The Nets won 114-104 for their second victory. For a team trying to establish some trust, a veteran recognizing what’s working is worth something.
“It wasn’t perfect, but I think that we took a little bit of a step,” Fernandez said.
Raptors
The Raptors are 4-4, but their work immediately after halftime has been considerably worse.
As Rocco Moschella of Sports Illustrated notes, Toronto has been outscored by an average of 13.5 points in the third quarter of its four losses.
Wednesday’s loss to the Nuggets was the worst example. The Raptors lost the third quarter 41-15, shooting 5-of-23 and committing seven turnovers.
Getting Kawhi Leonard back would help. So would giving themselves a chance by taking care of the ball. Missing shots is difficult enough without handing the opponent extra possessions.
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