What: Charlotte Hornets (7-21) (5-10 home) vs Houston Rockets (19-9) (8-6 away)
When: 7:00pm Eastern
Where: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, NC
How to watch: FanDuel Sports Network, NBA League Pass
Outfitting: Hornets–Icon (teal), Rockets–Association (white)
Game Lines: Hornets +6.5, Hornets money line +195, O/U 218.5
Injuries:
Hornets: Brandon Miller-out (ankle), Tre Mann-out (back), Grant Williams-out (knee)
Rockets: Tari Eason-out (probably) (leg)
The Rockets are playing an interesting stretch of schedule. They hosted the Pelicans on Thursday before embarking on their current road trip against the Raptors, Hornets, and Pelicans again. It’s four straight games against teams that are currently in the bottom four of the standings. The Hornets are the third of those four games. The Rockets won each of the last two.
The Hornets do have the advantage of the Rockets traveling down to Charlotte from Toronto on the second night of a back to back. The Hornets have had all weekend to rest up and will be getting LaMelo Ball and Mark Williams back after the two sat out on Friday for injury management purposes. Plus they actually beat the Rockets in the season opener, so they know they can win.
The Rockets are extraordinarily balanced. They don’t have a single 20 point per game scorer, but they have seven players averaging at least 10. Jalen Green leads them with 19.5 points per game. He’s still not all that efficient, but he provides a shot making spark that the roster would otherwise be somewhat devoid of. Alperen Sengün is averaging a double double with 5.3 assists and is making a strong case to be the Rockets all star representative. He’s very good. Veterans Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks bring some grit and consistency. Youngsters Jabari Smith, Amen Thompson, and Tari Eason (who might be out tonight) round out the double figure scorers.
The Hornets won the first meeting despite Brandon Miller leaving early with his first sprained ankle of the season. LaMelo Ball and Tre Mann carried the Hornets offense. Mann is out for this one, so the Hornets need someone else to step up and fill that scoring void. There aren’t a whole lot of healthy options, so Miles Bridges or one of the bigs are probably the most likely candidates.
