What: Charlotte Hornets (12-35) (8-19 home) vs Milwaukee Bucks (26-22) (9-14 away)
When: 7:00pm Eastern
Where: Spectrum Center; Charlotte, NC
How to watch: TV64 (local), FanDuel Sports Network, NBA League Pass
Outfitting: Hornets–Association (white), Bucks–Icon (green)
Game Lines: Hornets +10.5, Hornets money line +360, O/U 220.5
Injuries:
Hornets: Vasilije Micic-questionable (ankle), LaMelo Ball-out (ankle), Brandon Miller-out (wrist), Tre Mann-out (back), Cody Martin-out (core), Josh Okogie-out (hamstring), Grant Williams-out (knee)
Bucks: Khris Middelton-out (not on the team anymore), Brook Lopez-probable (back), Bobby Portis-probable (personal), Giannis Antetokounmpo-questionable (knee), Damian Lillard-questionable (groin)
The Hornets will try to bounce back after another deflating loss to the Wizards. It actually looks like a decent bounce back spot when you ignore the dearth of healthy talent available. The Hornets have been playing up to their competition lately, and on paper and on reputation, the Bucks are a big draw. But in terms of actual on court performance this season, the Bucks are quite mediocre.
The Bucks are now only four games over .500 after a four game losing streak that’s seen them lose each of those games by at least 13 points. Defense has been the problem; they’ve given up an average of 131.5 points per game in that four game losing streak.
After I wrote all that about the Bucks, they wanted to go out and make a trade. Kyle Kuzma has probably just stayed in Charlotte after beating the Hornets so he can join his new Bucks teammates. Khris Middleton is on his way to Washington.
The Hornets offense generally hasn’t been good enough to take advantage of bad defenses, but there will at least be a chance for them to get some easy looks. Both the Spurs and the Grizzlies made at least 20 threes in their recent games against the Bucks, and that’s a number the Hornets will need to strive for to give themselves the best chance to win.
