THUNDER WIRE - Hoping to get greedy and bring home a second championship ring within the month, OKC fans were served a nice slice of humility pie. It’s the first time the fanbase has received a piece in a while after they experienced the greatest month in franchise history.

The Oklahoma City Thunder suffered a 109-80 Summer League semifinal loss to the Charlotte Hornets. The 29-point humiliation was part of the fourteam SL playoff that will determine the winner of the July extravaganza.

“The guys made a lot of progress throughout the time. That’s promising. I thought their collective effort they put in as a team was something I think really stood out amongst a difficult environment,” Vegas SL coach Connor Johnson said. “I thought the guys got better as they went on. So there’s a lot of positives to take away.”

Even though Nikola Topic and Ajay Mitchell were out, Kon Knueppel still suited up. That gave this playoff matchup some pazzazz. It was a nice surprise to see the 2025 No. 4 pick still playing this deep into the Summer League, especially since Tidjane Salaun was out.

Without a true playmaker, the Thunder endured another slow start. They couldn’t buy a bucket as they faced a 23-16 deficit against the Hornets after the first quarter. The halfcourt offense was about as messy as you’d imagine.

It only got worse from that point. Branden Carlson was called for a clear-path foul as he turned it over midcourt. The Thunder hoped to change the call with a challenge that didn’t go their way. A few plays later, Knueppel swished in a catchand-shoot 3-pointer to blow it open as Charlotte opened the frame on a 12-1 run.

The Thunder only scored 17 points in the second quarter. They entered halftime in a 52-33 deficit. That only grew to start the second half. Any faint hopes of a comeback were quickly erased. Knueppel caught Jazian Gortman behind his hip to draw the 3-point shooting foul. The savvy transition move made the rookie look like a veteran.

The Thunder scored 29 points in the third quarter, but it was ineffective. They entered the final frame in an 87-62 deficit. Already dwindling in crowd size, most folks likely changed channels as the rest of the game had zero stakes involved and played out of necessity.

It was another snoozefest frame. The Thunder only scored 18 points in the fourth quarter as the end of their bench subbed in and logged minutes. As the broadcast crew talked about the NBA’s 2025-26 season, they trailed by as many as 34 points.

The Thunder shot 32% from the field and went 13-of-40 (32.5%) from 3. They shot 13-of-18 on free throws. They had 13 assists on 27 baskets. Four Thunder players scored double-digit points.

Barnhizer finished with 10 points and three rebounds. Carlson had 12 points and seven rebounds. Malevy Leons tallied 10 points. Erik Reynolds II took advantage of the playing time with 16 points off the bench.

Meanwhile, the Hornets shot 53% from the field and went 13-of-35 (37.1%) from 3. They shot 18-of-23 on free throws. They had 27 assists on 39 baskets. Five Hornets players scored double-digit points.

Knueppel had 17 points and three rebounds. Jaylen Sims scored 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting. MJ Walker had 13 points and seven rebounds. PJ Hall had 12 points. A couple of players almost had triple-doubles. Damion Baugh had 10 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. KJ Simpson had eight points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

The Thunder saw their top players shine in Utah and Las Vegas. But with a chance to bring home a Summer League championship, the lack of scoring talent finally caught up to them against a stacked Hornets squad who still had their best player suit up. Now, Charlotte moves on to face the Sacramento Kings in the finals.

“There was a lot of growth in a lot of different areas. I think individually, guys got more confident. I think they found where they can really make an impact. I think we saw that through the first four games here in Vegas,” Johnson said. “Then I think collectively, they really bought into the idea of being a team and made progress. We felt like a team here at the end.”