Deadspin | Hornets knock off Knicks to secure East’s ninth seed 
Apr 12, 2026; New York, New York, USA; Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges (0) dribbles up court against the New York Knicks during the first half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images Brandon Miller, LaMelo Ball and Coby White each scored 19 points as the visiting Charlotte Hornets earned the ninth seed in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament with a 110-96 win over the New York Knicks on Sunday.
Ball made five 3-pointers and added seven rebounds and six assists for Charlotte (44-38), which will host the Miami Heat in a No. 9 vs. No. 10 play-in game on Wednesday. Kon Knueppel finished with 14 points, six rebounds and five assists.
New York (53-29) had nothing to play for after already clinching the East’s No. 3 seed. With most of their regulars sitting out, the Knicks started Miles McBride, Jose Alvarado, Mikal Bridges, Mohamed Diawara and Ariel Hukporti.
Bridges’ consecutive games played streak reached 638 with his brief appearance.
Bridges is the NBA’s active leader in consecutive regular-season games played and was replaced by Jordan Clarkson just 23 seconds into the contest as part of a plan by coach Mike Brown to keep the streak intact.
McBride made four 3-pointers and scored 21 points for New York, which had its five-game winning streak come to an end. Alvarado had 16 points, Kevin McCullar Jr. added a career-high 14, Pacome Dadiet scored a career-high 12, and Jeremy Sochan also tallied 12.
New York will face the East’s No. 6 seed in a first-round series beginning either Saturday or Sunday.
The Hornets shot 45.9% from the field and 36.5% (19 of 52) from 3-point range.
Ten different players played at least 12 minutes for New York, which connected on 43.3% of its shots from the field and 32.5% (13 of 40) from beyond the arc.
Charlotte led 30-20 at the end of the opening quarter and extended its lead to 50-35 on Miller’s two foul shots with 3:34 left in the second. The Hornets took a 57-44 lead into the half.
Knueppel drilled one of his three 3-pointers to give the Hornets a 69-54 lead with 8:53 left in the third quarter. Charlotte held an 87-73 advantage at the end of the period.
The Hornets maintained a double-digit lead throughout the fourth quarter and led 108-91 on Sion James’s trey with 3:02 remaining.
Both teams garnered a dozen offensive rebounds, but Charlotte outscored New York, 26-12 on second chance points.
–Field Level Media
#Deadspin #Hornets #knock #Knicks #secure #Easts #ninth #seed
Apr 12, 2026; New York, New York, USA; Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges (0) dribbles up court against the New York Knicks during the first half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images Brandon Miller, LaMelo Ball and Coby White each scored 19 points as the visiting Charlotte Hornets earned the ninth seed in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament with a 110-96 win over the New York Knicks on Sunday.
Ball made five 3-pointers and added seven rebounds and six assists for Charlotte (44-38), which will host the Miami Heat in a No. 9 vs. No. 10 play-in game on Wednesday. Kon Knueppel finished with 14 points, six rebounds and five assists.
New York (53-29) had nothing to play for after already clinching the East’s No. 3 seed. With most of their regulars sitting out, the Knicks started Miles McBride, Jose Alvarado, Mikal Bridges, Mohamed Diawara and Ariel Hukporti.
Bridges’ consecutive games played streak reached 638 with his brief appearance.
Bridges is the NBA’s active leader in consecutive regular-season games played and was replaced by Jordan Clarkson just 23 seconds into the contest as part of a plan by coach Mike Brown to keep the streak intact.
McBride made four 3-pointers and scored 21 points for New York, which had its five-game winning streak come to an end. Alvarado had 16 points, Kevin McCullar Jr. added a career-high 14, Pacome Dadiet scored a career-high 12, and Jeremy Sochan also tallied 12.
New York will face the East’s No. 6 seed in a first-round series beginning either Saturday or Sunday.
The Hornets shot 45.9% from the field and 36.5% (19 of 52) from 3-point range.
Ten different players played at least 12 minutes for New York, which connected on 43.3% of its shots from the field and 32.5% (13 of 40) from beyond the arc.
Charlotte led 30-20 at the end of the opening quarter and extended its lead to 50-35 on Miller’s two foul shots with 3:34 left in the second. The Hornets took a 57-44 lead into the half.
Knueppel drilled one of his three 3-pointers to give the Hornets a 69-54 lead with 8:53 left in the third quarter. Charlotte held an 87-73 advantage at the end of the period.
The Hornets maintained a double-digit lead throughout the fourth quarter and led 108-91 on Sion James’s trey with 3:02 remaining.
Both teams garnered a dozen offensive rebounds, but Charlotte outscored New York, 26-12 on second chance points.
–Field Level Media
![Vox Creative, Roku debut new docuseries on history of American soccer The history of American soccer has spanned well over 120 years, and to date there hasn’t been many opportunities to look back at that history. With the 2026 World Cup about a month away, we now have a chance to do just that. Yesterday, SB Nation collaborated with Vox Creative and Roku to release Soccer Meets America, a 3-part docuseries that focuses on the rise of soccer in the United States.Soccer Meets America focuses around the meteoric rise in popularity, from the North American Soccer League days of the 1970s and 1980s to the 1984 Olympics, leading up to the 1994 World Cup. At the center of that history was Alan Rothenberg, who served as soccer commissioner for the 1984 Olympics, the president of the U.S. Soccer Federation from 1990 to 1998, and the CEO of the 1994 World Cup. He also had a hand in the start of Major League Soccer, adding women’s soccer to the Olympic program in 1996, and bringing the 1999 Women’s World Cup to the United States.Rothenberg recently released a new book entitled The Big Bounce: The Surge that Shaped the Future of U.S. Soccer. In the book, Rothenberg gives an inside account at how American soccer went from the days where leagues were not organized and fizzled quickly to some of the success we have today with leagues like Major League Soccer, the National Women’s Soccer League, and the United Soccer Leagues. He details his firsthand knowledge of what it took for the United States to host a successful soccer tournament at the 1984 Olympics, how the nation won the bid to host the 1994 World Cup, and how he was able to organize the federation to get everything done and push the game forward. He recently sat down for an interview on the USA Soccercast, and in that interview, he mentioned that the rise in popularity of the game wasn’t based on one big moment, but a sustained buildup of momentum.“[American soccer] sort of grew when I was starting in 1990,” Alan Rothenberg, former U.S. Soccer president and CEO of the 1994 World Cup, said in an interview for the USA Soccercast. “I had a glimpse of it back in the 70s when we had a team in Los Angeles ,and obviously the Cosmos set the world on fire at that time with Pelé and [Franz] Beckebauer…you had Giants Stadium. So there were those glimpses of what the future could hold. But as we started to build the soccer federation, our [1994] World cup team and the World cup organization, it just started to accelerate. So there wasn’t one ‘a ha!’ moment.”Soccer Meets America takes the unique yet unexpected path of professional soccer in the United States andn gives the story some definition. Through people like Rothenberg, we see that the history is shaped by chance, persistence, and communities that kept the game alive long before it found mainstream recognition. Starting with the sport’s deep roots in immigrant communities in the 1920s, each episode of the docuseries explores soccer on a personal and professional level. Both nostalgic and forward-facing, the series features a variety of influential figures in American soccer and aims to resonate with new and old fans of the sport alike.But there’s also the legacy of the 2026 World Cup, which will be different from what it was in 1994. “Well, obviously we’re starting from a different baseline,” Rothenberg said. “We started at virtually zero back in [1990], and now we’re starting from level 60 or 75…so the dramatic consequences will not be the same as they were after 94, but I think it’s going to be a huge spike in interest in the sport at all levels.”To grow the history, you must learn from it. And Soccer Meets America gives you a review of America’s soccer history and strengthes the foundations from which the sport’s culture and passion were created. As we approach the World Cup, that knowledge will be essential to craft the legacy that will carry long after the tournament ends. #Vox #Creative #Roku #debut #docuseries #history #American #soccer](https://i3.wp.com/platform.sbnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/gettyimages-2273772608.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C10.740350081171%2C100%2C78.519299837658&w=1200&ssl=1 "Vox Creative, Roku debut new docuseries on history of American soccer The history of American soccer has spanned well over 120 years, and to date there hasn’t been many opportunities to look back at that history. With the 2026 World Cup about a month away, we now have a chance to do just that. Yesterday, SB Nation collaborated with Vox Creative and Roku to release Soccer Meets America, a 3-part docuseries that focuses on the rise of soccer in the United States.Soccer Meets America focuses around the meteoric rise in popularity, from the North American Soccer League days of the 1970s and 1980s to the 1984 Olympics, leading up to the 1994 World Cup. At the center of that history was Alan Rothenberg, who served as soccer commissioner for the 1984 Olympics, the president of the U.S. Soccer Federation from 1990 to 1998, and the CEO of the 1994 World Cup. He also had a hand in the start of Major League Soccer, adding women’s soccer to the Olympic program in 1996, and bringing the 1999 Women’s World Cup to the United States.Rothenberg recently released a new book entitled The Big Bounce: The Surge that Shaped the Future of U.S. Soccer. In the book, Rothenberg gives an inside account at how American soccer went from the days where leagues were not organized and fizzled quickly to some of the success we have today with leagues like Major League Soccer, the National Women’s Soccer League, and the United Soccer Leagues. He details his firsthand knowledge of what it took for the United States to host a successful soccer tournament at the 1984 Olympics, how the nation won the bid to host the 1994 World Cup, and how he was able to organize the federation to get everything done and push the game forward. He recently sat down for an interview on the USA Soccercast, and in that interview, he mentioned that the rise in popularity of the game wasn’t based on one big moment, but a sustained buildup of momentum.“[American soccer] sort of grew when I was starting in 1990,” Alan Rothenberg, former U.S. Soccer president and CEO of the 1994 World Cup, said in an interview for the USA Soccercast. “I had a glimpse of it back in the 70s when we had a team in Los Angeles ,and obviously the Cosmos set the world on fire at that time with Pelé and [Franz] Beckebauer…you had Giants Stadium. So there were those glimpses of what the future could hold. But as we started to build the soccer federation, our [1994] World cup team and the World cup organization, it just started to accelerate. So there wasn’t one ‘a ha!’ moment.”Soccer Meets America takes the unique yet unexpected path of professional soccer in the United States andn gives the story some definition. Through people like Rothenberg, we see that the history is shaped by chance, persistence, and communities that kept the game alive long before it found mainstream recognition. Starting with the sport’s deep roots in immigrant communities in the 1920s, each episode of the docuseries explores soccer on a personal and professional level. Both nostalgic and forward-facing, the series features a variety of influential figures in American soccer and aims to resonate with new and old fans of the sport alike.But there’s also the legacy of the 2026 World Cup, which will be different from what it was in 1994. “Well, obviously we’re starting from a different baseline,” Rothenberg said. “We started at virtually zero back in [1990], and now we’re starting from level 60 or 75…so the dramatic consequences will not be the same as they were after 94, but I think it’s going to be a huge spike in interest in the sport at all levels.”To grow the history, you must learn from it. And Soccer Meets America gives you a review of America’s soccer history and strengthes the foundations from which the sport’s culture and passion were created. As we approach the World Cup, that knowledge will be essential to craft the legacy that will carry long after the tournament ends. #Vox #Creative #Roku #debut #docuseries #history #American #soccer")
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