What: Charlotte Hornets (10-36) (5-18 away) at Oklahoma City Thunder (33-15) (18-6 home)

When: 8:00pm Eastern

Where: Paycom Center; Oklahoma City, OK

How to watch: Bally Sports Southeast, NBA League Pass

Outfitting: Hornets–Statement (purple), Thunder–Statement (orange)

Game Lines: Hornets +15.5, O/U 229.5

Injuries:
Hornets: LaMelo Ball-doubtful (ankle), Gordon Hayward-out (calf), Mark Williams-out (back)

Thunder: Jalen Williams-out (ankle), Isaiah Joe-out (chest)

On paper, the Hornets look like they have no shot in this game. They’re playing the 2 seed in the West that has a superstar guard, unicorn big man, and one of the best defenses in the league. Except the last time the Hornets were in this situation they beat the Timberwolves despite 62 points from Karl-Anthony Towns.

We all know that lightning tends to strike the same place twice, so the Hornets are totally a good pick to win this game tonight. They’re probably only down three starters (four if you’re still counting the Terry Rozier trade) and are coming off a game where they didn’t have a single catastrophic quarter in their loss to the Bulls. Progress is progress.

The Thunder had lost two in a row, including a 16 point loss to the Pistons. That’s even worse than the Hornets loss to the Pistons! But then they beat Nuggets (without Nikola Jokic) to get the train back on the track.

On the whole, the Thunder have been one of the best teams in the league this season. They are one of two teams to be top six in both offensive and defensive rating (along with the Celtics). They have the second best net rating in the league (again, behind the Celtics). But the Hornets beat the Celtics once this year, so another sign for a Hornets win? Eh?

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a legitimate MVP candidate. He’s averaging over 31 points per game despite being a relative low volume 3-point shooter. He makes up for that by getting to the line at a super high clip which surely will give the Hornets all sorts of problems. He’s also an All-Defense level player on the other end of the floor.

Jalen Williams is the Robin of the offense, but it looks like he’ll be out for this one. Rookie sensation Chet Holmgren scores points, makes threes, and blocks shots. Rookie Cason Wallace is your favorite NBA Twitter personality’s favorite rookie. He’s a pesky defender and an efficient but low volume offensive threat.