What: Charlotte Hornets (17-54) (9-24 home) vs Cleveland Cavaliers (44-28) (21-14 away)
When: 7:00pm Eastern
Where: Spectrum Center; Charlotte, NC
How to watch: Bally Sports Southeast, NBA League Pass
Outfitting: Hornets–City (mint/teal), Cavs–Statement (black)
Game Lines: Hornets +10.5, O/U 207.5
Injuries:
Hornets: LaMelo Ball-out (ankle), Cody Martin-out (ankle), Seth Curry-out (ankle), Mark Williams-out (back)
Cavaliers: Donovan Mitchell-out (face), Dean Wade-out (knee), Ty Jerome-out (ankle), Max Strus-questionable (knee)
There isn’t a whole lot of new stuff to talk about given that these two teams just played on Monday night. We previewed it in a little more detail here and recapped what actually happened here.
Both teams have the same available players and will presumably play the same rotations. The main bit of fallout from Monday’s game may be between Marcus Morris and the Hornets, particularly Nick Richards. Morris caught Richards with a blindside forearm in the neck/chin in the second quarter and was ejected from it. There may a bit of animosity whenever Morris checks into the game.
The only other difference is that the Hornets are now back home after a long and awkward road trip. The Hornets wrapped up a period of 13 road games out of 17 with a four game road trip that took 10 days. They’ll finally get their first consecutive home games since before the all star break, and they’ll get eight of them. It’s the longest homestand in franchise history (I think). The opponents are difficult, but at least the fellas can unpack their bags for a little bit.
Brandon Miller was far and away the most engaged and active player for the Hornets on Sunday. You’d like to see another player or two join him at the races and for Miller to keep up his strong play down the home stretch. The Hornets also need to do a better job of staying close to Cavs’ shooters. The Cavaliers blew the game open with some spurts of 3-point shooting that the Hornets can’t keep up with it. They’ll need to drag the Cavs into the mud and win a low scoring affair.
