What: Charlotte Hornets (6-16) (5-8 home) vs Cleveland Cavaliers (20-3) (7-2 away)
When: 1:00pm Eastern
Where: Spectrum Center; Charlotte, NC
How to watch: FanDuel Sports Network, NBA League Pass
Outfitting: Hornets–City (mint with the mint court), Cavaliers–Statement (black)
Game Lines: Hornets +12.5, Hornets money line +500, O/U 219.5
Injuries:
Hornets: Nick Richards-questionable (ankle), LaMelo Ball-out (calf), Miles Bridges-out (knee), Tre Mann-out (back), Tidjane Salaün-out (ankle), Grant Williams-out (knee)
Cavaliers: Isaac Okoro-questionable (knee), Max Strus-out (ankle), Craig Porter Jr.-out (sick)
The Cavaliers might be good. They started the season 15-0, which is obviously very good, but I think people were slow to believe that they were as good as their hot start would indicate. They finally lost, but they’re still 20-3, one game up on the defending champion Celtics. They curiously lost two consecutive games to the Hawks, who I guess just have their number.
The Cavaliers have climbed to the top of the league on the wings of their high powered offense. They lead the league in shooting percentage and 3-point shooting percentage. They’re shooting better than 50% from the field and 40% from three as a team. They’ve accomplished that with a pretty clear delineation on who takes what shots. Jarrett Allen only shoots around the rim, and he’s converting over 70% of his looks there. Pretty much every guard and wing player is hitting their threes at a pretty absurd clip.
Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland are the obvious stars and are both averaging over 20 points per game on over 40% 3-point shooting. Ty Jerome is flirting with a 50/50/90 season. Caris LeVert can’t make his free throws but his shooting from the field has been almost as crazy as Jerome’s. Even Isaac Okoro is hitting 46% of his threes.
The Cavs’ defense isn’t quite as formidable, but it’s still better than most teams. Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley create a rare two-big front court that will give the Hornets all kinds of problems at the rim. That’ll be extra true if Nick Richards can’t go after tweaking his ankle on Thursday.
If we’re looking for unlikely tidbits that might give the Hornets an edge, perhaps the Cavs will come out flat for a 1:00 start time on the road two days after they won a much more meaningful game against the Nuggets. That probably won’t matter given the discrepancy between these two teams, but it’s something.
