Charlotte Hornets Face Another Worry As Brandon Miller Leaves NBA Cup Clash With Groin Soreness

Brandon Miller exits Celtics clash with groin soreness© Instagram/ brandmillerr

Brandon Miller left the Charlotte Hornets' game against the Boston Celtics on Friday night with right groin soreness and did not return. The injury ended his night after just 14 minutes, with eight points on 3-of-10 shooting. The $209 million forward went to the locker room in the second quarter with Charlotte already down 47-23. Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints reported the groin issue after the team gave no details. The Hornets are 3-6, had lost five straight before tipoff, and were already without Kon Knueppel because of a left hamstring problem.

Brandon Miller Leaves Celtics Game With Groin Soreness

Brandon Miller exited with 7:14 left in the second quarter after appearing to tweak something on the floor. Charlotte had not described the injury when he left the court. Earlier, he had added two rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block.

Miller had led Charlotte in scoring at 22 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, both career bests. The shooting has lagged. He is hitting 36% from the field and 26.7% from three, and he went 2-for-15 in Wednesday's 114-104 loss to Brooklyn. Lee still praised Miller's defensive effort after the game.

The other worry is Kon Knueppel. The former Duke standout missed the first eight games with a left hamstring strain, then lasted 5 minutes and 51 seconds in Wednesday's season debut before feeling discomfort in the leg. Before Friday's game, Lee said the performance staff needs more time to assess the injury, according to the Charlotte Observer's Rod Boone.

“I think it's going to take a little bit of time,” Lee said. The coach would not call it day to day or week to week.

Hornets Are Short On Bodies Across The Rotation

With Miller and Knueppel both out, Charlotte is down to Royce O'Neale, Tidjane Salaun and rookie Hannes Steinbach at forward. Center Moussa Diabaté (right quadriceps tendinopathy) and guard Dennis Schröder (left thigh soreness) were ruled out before tipoff. Grant Williams is also sidelined with a hamstring injury. Lee has had to lean on whoever is left. The Hornets fell to a 119-80 defeat.

Injuries are not new for Miller. In a four-year NBA career, he has had surgery on the right wrist and left shoulder. Charlotte still gave him a five-year, $209 million extension and has treated him as a core piece alongside Knueppel since trading LaMelo Ball to Minnesota.

Without Miller, the Hornets had no obvious first option on offense while Boston built a double-digit lead. Knueppel's rookie numbers show what Charlotte is missing: 18.5 points per game, 42.5% from three and a league-high 273 made threes.