Kon Knueppel didn’t need much time to set a new NBA record this season.
The Charlotte Hornets rookie is now the fastest player in league history to reach 100 career 3-pointers. Knueppel only needed 29 games to reach that number, which he did Monday night in the Hornets’ 139-132 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. That’s 12 games faster than Lauri Markkanen needed when he set the record during his rookie season.
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Knueppel entered Monday’s game at Rocket Arena with 99 3-pointers in his career. He achieved this thanks to an assist from Sion James at the end of the first quarter of the competition.
Knueppel finished the night with 20 points in the loss and shot 5 of 9 from behind the arc. He has made 104 3-pointers this season, which is the second most in the league behind Donovan Mitchell (111).
Knueppel also shattered the Hornets’ franchise record for fastest player to reach 100 3-pointers. Brandon Miller did it in 43 games during his rookie campaign.
Knueppel entered Monday averaging 19.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game this season. He is the best scorer of all rookies. The Hornets selected him No. 4 overall out of Duke last summer. He averaged 14.4 points and 2.2 3-pointers per game in his lone season with the Blue Devils.
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Despite Knueppel’s historic night, the Hornets couldn’t rally to overtake the Cavaliers. Mitchell led the way with 30 points and six 3-pointers in Cleveland’s win, which pushed them to 16-14 on the season. Darius Garland added 27 points and De’Andre Hunter finished with 27 points coming off the bench.
LaMelo Ball led Charlotte with 23 points and nine assists, and Miller also had 20 points. The loss, the Hornets’ second in a row, dropped them to 9-20 on the season.
