Charlotte Hornets’ players celebrate after defeating the Sacramento Kings in a NBA Summer League basketball game on Sunday, July 20, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP photo / John Locher)
Las Vegas – Kon Knueppel, the fourth choice of this year’s draft, scored 21 points and Charlotte held a sacramento rally to beat the Kings 83-78 Sunday for the first summer League title of the NBA of Hornets.
Ryan Kalkbrenner added 15 points and three other players, each scored 11 for the Hornets, which ended his summer league with a 6-0 sheet.
Read: NBA: Cooper Flagg’s race in Summer League ends after 2 games
Isaac Jones collected 24 points and 11 rebounds for Sacramento (5-1), and Devin Carter scored 13. Nique Clifford, 24th, finished with 10 points and eight rebounds. He entered the game with an average on average of 16.2 points and 6.2 rebounds.
The Kings have lost for the first time in three trips to the final. They won titles in 2014 and 2021.
Kueppel continued his hot game after scoring five points in his first game. He collected an average of 18.3 points in his last four games and was appointed MVP of championship match. Its 3 -point pointer with 31.1 seconds to the left gave the Hornets a four -point lead.
Read: NBA Summer League opens in Vegas with Flagg vs Bonny Duel
“As I said before, if you come here, you should win,” said Kueppel. “So that’s what we did.”
The Hornets dominated early, leading by 36-18 in the second quarter. The Kings returned, and Jones reduced the deficit twice late – follow -up with 1:17 on the left and a 3 -point with 20.3 seconds remaining.
But the Hornets closed the game on the free throw line, three players making 5 out of 6.
“It’s a league match,” said Charlotte’s summer league coach Chris Jent. “This is what everyone wants to see anyway, so it works well. To win a championship, you have to play through adversity.”
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has succeeded.
The Hornets Center James Banks III were expelled 3:47 to do in the third quarter after picking up a blatant fault for a elbow in the center of Sacramento Dylan Cardwell. Cardwell went down hard and stayed on the ground for most of the video review.
