What: Charlotte Hornets (14-43) (5-23 away) at Dallas Mavericks (31-28) (18-11 home)
When: 8:30pm Eastern
Where: American Airlines Center; Dallas, TX
How to watch: TV 64, FanDuel Sports Network, NBA League Pass
Game Lines: Hornets +10.5, Hornets money line +320, O/U 223.5
Injuries:
Hornets: Seth Curry-probable (sore back from carrying the team), Wendell Moore-questionable (concussion), DaQuan Jeffries-questionable (knee), Tidjane Salaün-out (ankle), Josh Okogie-out (hamstring), Brandon Miller-out (wrist), Tre Mann-out (back), Grant Williams-out (knee)
Mavericks: PJ Washington-questionable (ankle), Dwight Powell-questionable (hip), Anthony Davis-out (adductor), Daniel Gafford-out (knee), Dereck Lively II-out (ankle), Caleb Martin-out (hip)
The Western Conference road trip mercifully comes to an end after this game. These road trips that include stops out west have become recurring nightmares in recent seasons. Last year, the Hornets went 1-6 on a largely west coast road trip that included several big losses. Two years prior, when the team went 43-39 and made the play-in, the team went 1-4 in an early season west coast swing that featured losses of 22, 30, and 14 to start the trip. A later trip saw losses of 34 and 31 to the Mavericks and Suns respectively. In short, Hornets don’t do a good job traveling west. Makes you think.
This is going to be a weird game. The Mavericks basically don’t have a healthy center. From what I can tell, they’ve been starting PJ Washington at center, but he might be out too. They’ve been getting fill-in minutes from G League guys and small forwards. It should be an opportunity for Mark Williams and Moussa Diabate to feast on the glass. Jusuf Nurkic might be in for a good game if he plays as well.
Kyrie Irving has unsurprisingly shouldered a heavy offensive burden in recent games. He’s averaged almost 32 points per game in his last five and has been scorching hot from deep. Max Christie has been the next most consistent offensive contributor. He’s been the real prize in the Luka Doncic trade so far. Klay Thompson and Spencer Dinwiddie help sometimes but they’re also just as liable to do literally nothing. We know what PJ Washington is.
The Hornets will seemingly have LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges, and Mark Williams all in the lineup. That looks like a group that will be competitive, even though that hasn’t been the case the last few games. It’s the last game of the road trip, and sometimes knowing that a return home is around the corner can get the boys juiced up. After tonight, there are only four games left outside the eastern time zone.
