What: Charlotte Hornets (9-30) (5-13 home) vs Philadelphia 76ers (27-13) (11-7 away)
When: 7:00pm Eastern
Where: Spectrum Center; Charlotte, NC
How to watch: Bally Sports Southeast, NBA League Pass
Outfitting: Hornets–Statement (purple), 76ers–Association (white)
Game Lines: Hornets +10.5, O/U 230.5
Injuries:
Hornets: LaMelo Ball-questionable (ankle), Nick Richards-questionable (ankle), Bryce McGowens-questionable (hip flexor), Gordon Hayward-out (calf), Mark Williams-out (back)
76ers: De’Anthony Melton-out (back), Robert Covington-out (knee), Mo Bamba-out (knee), Jaden Springer-out (ankle)
The prospects of this game are terrifying. These two teams have met once this season, and it was the most lopsided loss in the history of the Charlotte Hornets. It took less than five minutes for the 76ers to go up double figures, and the buffer stayed that big for all but 15 seconds for the rest of the game. The Hornets trailed by 29 points after two quarters, 41 points after three quarters, and 53 points after four. The 76ers shot 60% from the field compared to the Hornets 36%. Miles Bridges had a +/- of -56. Nathan Mensah was -45 in 29 minutes. Just comical numbers all over the place.
If we want to be optimistic, the Hornets didn’t have LaMelo Ball in that game, and his return provides a huge boost to the offensive potential of this roster. On the other hand, the Hornets might not have a workable center for this game against arguably the most physically dominant player in the NBA.
Joel Embiid scored 42 points in that meeting last month. It was the 11th of what is now a 19 game streak in which the 76ers center has scored at least 30 points. He’s averaging 35.1 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 6.1 assists per game, which are all improvements on his MVP campaign last season. But perhaps the most fun stat of all–he averages 11.9 free throws per game on the season and 14 free throws per game in the month of January. There are going to be a lot of whistles tonight, especially with the smaller Hornets needing to play as physically as possible to try to slow Embiid down.
This hype around Tyrese Maxey seems to have quieted, but he’s still averaging 26 points and seven assists per game and hasn’t slowed down a bit. Tobias Harris is a really strong third option and has dropped a couple of 30-burgers in the last couple of weeks while Embiid was out. Former Hornets fan favorite Nicolas Batum is having a wildly efficient season on low usage–he’s shooting 53% from the field and 48% from three in a 76ers uniform. Other former Hornets fan favorite Kelly Oubre has been starting lately and playing mostly well.
There are so many ways this game can go wrong. Embiid is likely to go nuts against the Hornets small and wounded front court. Maxey is probably going to have every opportunity to get hot from three. Plus Batum and Oubre are hanging out there to rub salt in the wounds against their former team.
Hopefully the Hornets can build off the momentum they got in their win over the Spurs on Friday night. They do have the slight advantage of hosting a 76ers team that is on the second night of a road back to back, but it’s a lot to hope that cancels out the talent discrepancy.
