What: Charlotte Hornets (15-45) (7-23 away) at Toronto Raptors (22-38) (12-18 home)
When: 6:00 PM EST
Where: Scotiabank Arena; Toronto, Ontario
How to watch: Bally Sports Southeast, NBA League Pass
Outfitting: Hornets–Association (white), Raptors–Icon (red)
Game Lines: Hornets +7.5, O/U 222.5
Injuries:
Hornets: LaMelo Ball-out (ankle), Seth Curry-out (ankle), Cody Martin-out (ankle), Brandon Miller-probable (back), Mark Williams-out (back)
Raptors: Scottie Barnes-out (hand), Markquis Nowell-probable (hamstring)
Looking to avoid a fourth-straight loss, the Charlotte Hornets head north of the border to take on the Toronto Raptors for the second and final time this season.
The Hornets have now dropped three games in a row, failing to eclipse 100 points against Milwaukee and then letting the game get away from them in the late-third and early-fourth against Philadelphia. Tonight could serve as a get-right game against a Raptors squad that recently lost Barnes indefinitely to a broken hand. Toronto comes into this one having lost back-to-back games themselves, and five of its last eight.
Since the deadline, the Raptors rank 19th in offense and 22nd in defense — exceptionally mediocre since offloading Dennis Schroder’s contract and trading a first-round pick to acquire Kelly Olynyk and Ochai Agbaji. With Barnes out and Schroder gone, Toronto is totally devoid of playmaking and shot creation. Immanuel Quickley is best suited as an off-ball guard, and RJ Barrett has never excelled in the role of distributor. On the year, the Raptors only score 0.775 points per possession in the pick-and-roll, placing them in the 0th percentile (it actually says that) per Synergy.
Couple Toronto’s struggle to consistently generate efficient shots in the half court with Charlotte’s woeful post-deadline offense, and we’ve got a recipe for a true rock fight this evening. Both teams are in the bottom-10 in true shooting percentage. The only saving graces are that the Raptors play at a fast pace and the Hornets have found success sharing the ball, ranking 11th in assist percentage since Feb. 9. Other than that, not much of a positive outlook for this matchup offensively.
Charlotte’s league-best post-deadline defense has fallen off a bit, now down to ninth with a rating of 110.6, which seems a bit closer to realism. The team has improved in many ways, especially defensively, but the fact remains that there are clear deficiencies with this roster that seriously hinder the team’s ability to win consistently — lack of quality floor-spacing from the top-end rotation players has stood out most in recent games. Thankfully, the Raptors have a similar issue with their roster, and Charlotte’s newfound switchability and defensive versatility helps them match up against a wing-heavy team like Toronto.
Also, a bit of news from yesterday; the Hornets signed Marques Bolden to a Two-Way contract for the remainder of the season. Bolden, a former five-star recruit and Duke Blue Devil, had averaged 13.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.6 blocks in 31 games with the Wisconsin Herd this season, earning a 10-Day with Charlotte. He was waived to make room for Aleksej Pokusevski a few days ago, and now Nathan Mensah has been waived to make room for Bolden. Mensah struggled to make an impact on the floor apart from taking charges in his minutes with the Hornets, and now Bolden gets a chance to prove himself once more.
