Hornets’ Kon Knueppel stars in Milwaukee homecoming, but Bucks earn overtime win

Myles Turner and Giannis Antetokounmpo spoiled Kon Knueppel’s otherwise glorious Wisconsin homecoming Friday night.

Turner, the Milwaukee Bucks’ surprise free-agent signing over the summer, opened the scoring in overtime with a pair of 3-pointers to propel the Milwaukee Bucks over Knueppel’s Charlotte Hornets 147-134 at Fiserv Forum.

Turner finished with 18 points, and he wasn’t even the game’s biggest performer. Antetokounmpo supplemented his 25 points with 18 assists — two assists shy of his career high for assists — while Kyle Kuzma added 29 points in his best all-around game since he was traded from Washington to Milwaukee at last season’s trade deadline.

Knueppel, the fourth pick in June’s draft, was born in Milwaukee and grew up there.

So excited to host the Hornets at our home in MKE! pic.twitter.com/btmkBHBpEz

— Chari Nordgaard Knueppel (@ChariNKnueppel) November 14, 2025

With family members in the stands, Knueppel demonstrated his lights-out shooting prowess, scoring a career-best 32 points on 12-of-20 shooting from the field. His final basket of the game — a spot-up 3 with 21 seconds left after teammate Miles Bridges’ missed dunk ricocheted off the rim to the wing — sent the game into overtime.

KON KNUEPPEL TIES THE GAME!

WE ARE TIED AT 129.

🆚 CHA-MIL • East Group C
🏆 @emirates NBA Cup
📺 NBA League Pass: https://t.co/0FjqugD5PK https://t.co/T8lSwHiUeF pic.twitter.com/EBdAiRmxjC

— NBA (@NBA) November 15, 2025

Coming into the game, Knueppel was averaging 16.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists while shooting 39.8 percent from the field. He has allowed the Hornets to stay competitive without star LaMelo Ball, who returned to action Friday after missing five games with an ankle injury. Knueppel has been the NBA’s best rookie early this season, according to The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie.

Milwaukee improved to 2-0 in NBA Cup group play this season and is now 10-0 all time in NBA Cup group play games.