New York Knicks @ Charlotte Hornets
Wednesday, November 26, 2025 at 7:00 PM ET
Spectrum Center, Charlotte, NC | Game ID: 22500061
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
CHA 31 16 28 26 101NYK 37 35 26 31 129
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Brunson scores 33 as Knicks rout Hornets 129-101 to improve to 3-1 in NBA Cup group play
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- — Jalen Brunson scored 33 points, Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 points and 10 rebounds and the New York Knicks handed the Charlotte Hornets their seventh straight loss 129-101 on Wednesday night.
Josh Hart added 22 points for the Knicks, who made 13 of 26 shots from 3-point range to improve to 3-1 in NBA Cup group play.
Brandon Miller had 18 points in his second game back from a shoulder injury for the Hornets, who’ve lost 10 straight Cup games over the past three seasons and were eliminated from this year’s competition.
The Knicks played like a team eager to advance in the NBA Cup midseason tournament and improve their point differential, which was at minus-2 entering the night.
New York coach Mike Brown didn't take out his starters until 2:17 remained in the game and his team up by 24.
The Knicks left no doubt about this one.
They bolted to a 25-point halftime lead behind a balanced offensive attack as all five starters scored in double digits before halftime. New York shot 64% from the field and made 6 of 10 shots from beyond the arc before the break.
Of the Knicks' 72 first-half points, 68 came from their starters including 19 from Hart.
Charlotte's LaMelo Ball struggled to keep up with Brunson, who sent him to the bench in the third quarter with his fourth foul.
Ball, the only player in Hornets history to ever sign a max contract that pays him $260 million, later was assessed a technical foul for arguing with officials and he finished with just 11 points on 4-of-14 shooting.
Meanwhile Brunson was greeted with repeated chants of “MVP! MVP!” from the crowd at Charlotte's Spectrum Center.
Up next Both teams play another NBA Cup group stage game on Friday night with New York hosting the Bucks and Charlotte hosting the Bulls.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
CHABM B. Miller
CS C. Sexton
KK K. Knueppel
LB L. Ball
LM L. McNeeley
MB M. Bridges
MD M. Diabaté
RK R. Kalkbrenner
SJ S. James
TM T. Mann
NYKAH A. Hukporti
GY G. Yabusele
JB J. Brunson
JC J. Clarkson
JH J. Hart
KT K. Towns
MD M. Diawara
MM M. McBride
MR M. Robinson
PD P. Dadiet
TK T. Kolek
CHA/NYK the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur