Charlotte Hornets – Dallas Mavericks · NBA

Win probability changed during the game. · 29 January 2026

CHA123–121DAL

Is it worth watching?

Highly recommended

It was more exciting than 88% of NBA games since 2017

· It was still open in the final minutes
· The win probability swung between the two teams 26 times

It measures how much the win probability moved during the game —without looking at who won or at the score— and compares it with the 10,950 NBA games with a curve since 2017. “Highly recommended” is the most intense 20%, “recommended” runs from 50% to 80%, and “skippable” is the rest. Source: ESPN.

↑ DAL winsCHA wins ↓

Home team's win probability across the game (source: ESPN). The band rises when DAL leads and falls when CHA does.

This is how the game was decided.

Kon Knueppel decided it, the Charlotte Hornets player with the most points (34, with 4 rebounds and 3 assists; +7 with him on the floor); the winner's best plus-minus was Brandon Miller's (+12). The criterion: the winner's points in the box score; plus-minus says who was on the floor when the game opened up.

The game-winner in Dallas Mavericks 121-123 Charlotte Hornets (January 29, 2026) was hit by Kon Knueppel: a free throw with 4.1 s left in the fourth quarter, putting the Charlotte Hornets up 122-121. They never trailed again.

The biggest run of Dallas Mavericks 121-123 Charlotte Hornets (January 29, 2026) was a 9-0 run by the Dallas Mavericks between the third quarter and the fourth quarter, from 87-93 to 96-93. The Charlotte Hornets' best was a 8-0 run in the third quarter (from 8:45 to 7:55), from 70-67 to 78-67.

With 34 points, this is Kon Knueppel's highest-scoring regular-season game of his career.

▸See where these figures come from

Play: Kon Knueppel makes free throw 1 of 2.

I count as the game-winner the basket that puts the winning team ahead for good. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

A run here is consecutive points by one team without the opponent scoring. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

Source: the game's official box score and play-by-play.

It is compared by points with all his official NBA box scores in that scope; it is the same criterion the Analyst uses.

Kon Knueppel decided this game: his points put his team ahead with 4.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter, and the opponent never led again.

It is the only game he has decided this way in the NBA since the 2002-03 season.

His profile shows the games Knueppel decided

▸See where these figures come from

A game is decided by the last basket that puts a team ahead in the final ten seconds of the fourth quarter or of an overtime, if that team wins.

29 January 2026 · The source is the ESPN play-by-play, play espn:401810538:692; the date is the one on the NBA box score.

Rotations · who was on the floor

Closing lineup · CHA

Bridges · Knueppel · Diabate · Miller · James

Closing lineup · DAL

Flagg · Washington · Christie · Gafford · Thompson

Q1Q2Q3Q4

CHA

Miles Bridges

38′ · +11

Kon Knueppel

36′ · +7

Moussa Diabate

32′ · 0

LaMelo Ball

31′ · +9

Brandon Miller

27′ · +12

Josh Green

15′ · -8

Sion James

16′ · -5

Ryan Kalkbrenner

15′ · 0

Tidjane Salaun

10′ · -9

Collin Sexton

20′ · -7

DAL

Cooper Flagg

38′ · +2

P.J. Washington

35′ · -5

Max Christie

29′ · -13

Caleb Martin

27′ · -11

Daniel Gafford

25′ · -8

Dwight Powell

5′ · -3

Klay Thompson

27′ · +3

Brandon Williams

21′ · +11

Moussa Cisse

17′ · +11

Ryan Nembhard

9′ · -2

Jaden Hardy

6′ · +5

Each bar is a stint on the floor (source: NBA). The number is minutes played and the team's +/− with him on the court. CHA and DAL.

These lineups played the most minutes together.

Charlotte Hornets

Bridges, Ball, Diabate, Miller, and Knueppel played 13.1 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 9 points.
Bridges, Green, Kalkbrenner, Knueppel, and James played 5.4 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Bridges, Sexton, Ball, Diabate, and Knueppel played 4.6 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.

Dallas Mavericks

Martin, Washington, Gafford, Christie, and Flagg played 7.0 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 13 points.
Washington, Gafford, Williams, Flagg, and Thompson played 5.8 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 3 points.
Martin, Washington, Christie, Flagg, and Powell played 4.3 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 3 points.

▸See every lineup of the game

Charlotte Hornets

Bridges, Sexton, Ball, Diabate, and Miller played 4.4 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 5 points.
Bridges, Ball, Green, Diabate, and Knueppel played 3.0 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Green, Kalkbrenner, Salaun, Knueppel, and James played 2.5 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.
Sexton, Ball, Diabate, Miller, and Salaun played 2.3 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 7 points.
Sexton, Miller, Kalkbrenner, Salaun, and James played 2.3 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.
Bridges, Sexton, Green, Diabate, and James played 2.1 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.
Bridges, Sexton, Miller, Kalkbrenner, and Knueppel played 2.0 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Sexton, Ball, Kalkbrenner, Salaun, and Knueppel played 1.4 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Bridges, Green, Diabate, Knueppel, and James played 1.3 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Bridges, Miller, Kalkbrenner, Knueppel, and James played 1.0 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.

Dallas Mavericks

Washington, Cisse, Hardy, Flagg, and Nembhard played 3.2 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 4 points.
Washington, Williams, Cisse, Christie, and Flagg played 2.8 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 4 points.
Washington, Gafford, Christie, Flagg, and Thompson played 2.8 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.
Martin, Gafford, Williams, Christie, and Thompson played 2.5 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 5 points.
Washington, Williams, Cisse, Flagg, and Thompson played 2.5 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 7 points.
Washington, Cisse, Flagg, Nembhard, and Thompson played 2.3 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.
Martin, Gafford, Christie, Flagg, and Thompson played 2.2 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 6 points.
Martin, Washington, Gafford, Williams, and Thompson played 2.1 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 4 points.
Martin, Williams, Cisse, Christie, and Thompson played 1.6 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Martin, Williams, Cisse, Flagg, and Thompson played 1.4 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.
Martin, Cisse, Hardy, Flagg, and Nembhard played 1.1 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Martin, Gafford, Hardy, Christie, and Nembhard played 1.1 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Washington, Cisse, Christie, Flagg, and Thompson played 1.0 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.

▸See where these figures come from

The lineups come from the NBA's official rotation: who was on the floor and when. Each lineup's plus-minus is worked out from every player's stints and is only shown when they all add up with each other and with the final score.

Kon Knueppel covered 4.67 km, more than anyone in the game.

LaMelo Ball touched the ball 71 times, a game high.
LaMelo Ball made 54 passes, a game high.
Moussa Diabaté defended 12 shots at the rim, a game high, and opponents made 6.
Moussa Diabaté had 15 rebound chances, a game high.

▸See what was measured for each player

Charlotte Hornets

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Kon Knueppel	4.67	7.7	50	33
Miles Bridges	4.33	6.8	64	44
Moussa Diabaté	3.93	7.4	32	25
LaMelo Ball	3.70	7.3	71	54
Brandon Miller	3.25	7.3	49	34
Collin Sexton	2.61	7.8	39	29
Sion James	1.95	7.4	32	30
Josh Green	1.90	7.9	8	9
Ryan Kalkbrenner	1.83	7.2	11	7
Tidjane Salaün	1.37	8.4	16	17

Dallas Mavericks

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Cooper Flagg	4.46	7.1	68	36
P.J. Washington	4.17	7.2	39	28
Max Christie	3.44	7.1	34	23
Caleb Martin	3.33	7.4	32	26
Klay Thompson	3.07	6.8	27

How far does Kon Knueppel run per game?

The figures come from the NBA's optical tracking (NBA.com) for this game; speed is each player's average while on the floor.

Who guarded whom

Moussa Cisse guarded Moussa Diabaté for 4.4 minutes, over 22 possessions.
In that time, Moussa Diabaté scored 2 points and made 1 of 1 shots.
Daniel Gafford guarded Ryan Kalkbrenner for 4.1 minutes, over 18 possessions.
In that time, Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 2 points and made 1 of 1 shots.
Daniel Gafford guarded Moussa Diabaté for 4.0 minutes, over 18 possessions.
In that time, Moussa Diabaté scored 2 points and made 1 of 1 shots.

▸See all 27 matchups of two minutes or more

Charlotte Hornets defending

Defender	Attacker	Min	Poss	Pts (FG)
Bridges	Washington	4.0	18	2 (1/4)
Knueppel	Flagg	3.9	20	15 (7/10)
Diabaté	Cisse	3.7	19	2 (0/1)
Ball	Martin	3.6	20	3 (1/1)
Kalkbrenner	Gafford	3.6	16	0 (0/0)
Bridges	Flagg	3.5	21	2 (1/2)
Diabaté	Gafford	3.4	17	5 (2/3)
Knueppel	Christie	2.9	14	2 (1/3)
Miller	Christie	2.6	15	0 (0/1)
Ball	Thompson	2.5	13	0 (0/1)
Bridges	Martin	2.3	12	0 (0/1)
Miller	Washington	2.1	12	0 (0/0)
Miller	Flagg	2.1	11	6 (2/3)
Knueppel	Thompson	2.0	13	5 (2/4)

Dallas Mavericks defending

Defender	Attacker	Min	Poss	Pts (FG)
Cisse	Diabaté	4.4	22	2 (1/1)
Gafford	Kalkbrenner	4.1	18	2 (1/1)
Gafford	Diabaté	4.0	18	2 (1/1)
Washington	Bridges	3.9	21	3 (1/3)
Martin	Ball	3.9	20	2 (1/3)

Matchups come from the NBA's tracking (NBA.com) for this game: how long each defender guarded each attacker and what the attacker produced in that time. Only matchups of two minutes or more are shown.

Who stood out on defense during the season

These figures cover the whole 2025-26 regular season, not this game.

Charlotte Hornets

Ryan Kalkbrenner contested 9.4 shots per game over his 69 games.
He ranks 8 of 399 in the league.
Moussa Diabaté contested 7.7 shots per game over his 73 games.
He ranks 25 of 399 in the league.
Kon Knueppel recovered 0.7 loose balls per game over his 81 games.
He ranks 31 of 399 in the league.

Dallas Mavericks

Cooper Flagg recovered 0.8 loose balls per game over his 70 games.
He ranks 14 of 399 in the league.
Daniel Gafford defended 5.2 shots at the rim per game over his 55 games, and opponents made 10 fewer out of every 100 than usual.
He ranks 8 of 118 in the league.
Caleb Martin drew 0.08 charges per game over his 51 games.
He ranks 36 of 399 in the league.

Hustle figures come from the hustle stats the NBA publishes (NBA.com) and rim defense comes from its tracking; both cover the regular season. For each player in this game we show the figure that ranks him highest in the league, and for each team, the three best ranked. Ranks count players with at least 30 games and, at the rim, at least 4 defended shots per game.

The Dallas Mavericks have won 29 of their 43 games against the Charlotte Hornets.

29-14record of the Dallas Mavericks · NBA 2004-05 – 2025-26, regular season and playoffs

0-2in 2025-26

See the full head-to-head in the Analyst

See where it comes from

Official NBA box scores, regular season and playoffs, 2004-05 – 2025-26. It counts every game between the two teams that the house holds, this one included.

SportiveWorld knows much more about this game

Game context

Attendance

19.024

99.1% of capacity

American Airlines Center · Dallas

Scoring

244

combined points

12.8 above the season average (231.2)