Milwaukee Bucks vs. Charlotte Hornets Preseason Preview & Game Thread: Go time

Game three of the preseason pits the Milwaukee Bucks against the Charlotte Hornets tonight. After falling to the Wolves, the Bucks erased a 24-point deficit against the Thunder to win 128-126. Myles Turner (19 points), Kel’el Ware (18 points, 12 rebounds), and Brayden Burries (16 points) led the way with some big outings. They face an injury-stricken Charlotte sid—still trying to figure out its rotation and evaluate its younger guys—with the opportunity to go above .500.

The Task Ahead

The Charlotte Hornets enter the 2026-27 season without arguably their most recognizable player since Alonzo Mourning (yes, I said it!): LaMelo Ball. Charlotte shipped the star point guard, along with Josh Green, to Minnesota in exchange for Naz Reid and a plethora of draft assets. Charlotte also sent Miles Bridges to Phoenix for Grayson Allen and more draft assets. The Hornets front office ostensibly wants to build around the younger core of Kon Kneuppel and Brandon Miller, both of whom posted red-hot shooting splits and produced offensively for Charlotte, especially towards the tail end of the season; that said, they did benefit greatly from Ball’s playmaking. The Hornets will hand over floor-general duties to Coby White, who impressed during his half-season in the Queen City.

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The Hornets are in an odd spot: they look better than openly tanking franchises on paper, but they still lack the pieces to make a true postseason run like they did last year. Writers tend to rank the Charlotte Hornets around 11th in the Eastern Conference, but they could easily be a postseason dark horse or, come April, simulate Tankathon lottery results. Charlotte has played just one preseason game so far: a 124-90 blowout loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday. Second-year wing Liam McNeeley led all Hornets with 14 points, followed by Allen and Reid (13 points each).

Injury Report

The only player listed on the Bucks injury report is rookie Nate Ament, out with an ankle sprain. Ament landed awkwardly after being fouled against the Thunder and played no further part in the game. Jenkins says Ament’s return is unclear, but he’ll target the…

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Publish date : 2026-10-11 12:00:00

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