Oh, hey. It’s the Charlotte Hornets again.
The Toronto Raptors eeked out a win against the Hornets in Charlotte back in November, 113-111, but much has changed since then. The Hornets are spiraling out of playoff contention these days — they’ve lost seven of their last nine games — and no one’s exactly sure why.
They’ve been mostly healthy. Their chemistry seems fine. And yet somehow, the team’s defense has vanished completely. A team coached by Steve Clifford tends to be a good defensive team, so the Hornets falling off on that end of the floor is, quite frankly, baffling. The numbers have them with the 14th best defense in the league over their last 10 games, but anyone who’s watched them lately knows those statistics are extremely flattering.
If the Hornets’ win against the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday doesn’t give them momentum, the Raptors have an excellent opportunity to waltz into North Carolina for a fairly easy win. Toronto’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers was ultimately fluke-ish — no offense, Philly — so a win tonight would be a welcome close to an (all things considered) good road trip.
But they can’t and shouldn’t sleep on the Hornets. After all, Kemba Walker is a legitimate All-Star reserve candidate, Clifford is an outstanding coach, Nicolas Batum is good for a triple-double on any night, and they have a decent collection of young players.
Tip-off is at 7 p.m. You can tune in on TSN1/4 or Sportsnet 590.
Raptors updates
No word on DeMarre Carroll’s status as of when this article was written. Carroll took a knee to the head and left Wednesday’s game against the 76ers. It’s not a concussion, apparently, but the team says he’s dealing with whiplash-like symptoms. This sucks, as Carroll had been playing great lately. His presence would be much appreciated against the Hornets’ wing tandem of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Nicolas Batum. The basketball gods are cruel.
Lucas Nogueira is still going through the NBA’s concussion protocol, and the Raptors are being cautious with his injury. Doug Smith reported that Bebe was experiencing blurred vision yesterday, suggesting that he still has a ways to go before being cleared to play. While having Nogueira is definitely better than not, the Hornets don’t like playing Hibbert if they don’t have to, and chances are Hornets head coach Steve Clifford will stagger Hibbert’s minutes to match with Valanciunas’ minutes the best he can. The Raptors will probably go small-ish when Cody Zeller is playing anyway.
Patrick Patterson is, to no one’s surprise, out for tonight. Patterson’s only appeared in 33 of the Raptors’ 42 games this season, and this most recent absence comes at the hands of a nagging knee strain he suffered back in early January. He’ll be back when he’s back.
The Raptors might have to roll out some weird lineups to match up with the Hornets, who have a weird mix of undersized forwards and gigantic bigs. Should be quite the test for our boy Pascal Siakam, especially if Sullinger’s minutes continue to be limited.
This could all very well change, mind you.
With the above in mind, here’s what tonight’s roster should look like:
PG: Kyle Lowry, Cory Joseph, Fred VanVleet
SG: DeMar DeRozan, Norman Powell
SF: Terrence Ross, Bruno Caboclo
PF: Pascal Siakam, Jared Sullinger
C: Jonas Valanciunas, Jakob Poeltl
Hornets updates
The Hornets got their second win of the season of the new year on Wednesday, a blowout against the Portland Trail Blazers. The team’s been struggling mightily, particularly on defense, and head coach Steve Clifford has begun to experiment with his rotations a bit to help the team through this slump.
As far as I can tell, the only Hornet out for tonight’s game is Jeremy Lamb. When healthy, Lamb’s been a key part of the Hornets’ rotation. Unfortunately for them, he’s been dealing with a foot injury for the last week or so. Batum and Kidd-Gilchrist aside, the Hornets don’t have good wing defenders with Lamb out. DeRozan could feast tonight given the opportunity. Draw those fouls, DeMar.
Cody Zeller is a problem. Do not forget him. There will be times he outruns Jonas and gets an easy basket or two. I wouldn’t blame Valanciunas for that. He’ll easily win the matchup overall.
Here’s what the Hornets should be rolling out tonight:
PG: Kemba Walker, Ramon Sessions, Brian Roberts
SG: Nicolas Batum, Marco Belinelli
SF: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Treveon Graham
PF: Marvin Williams, Frank Kaminsky
C: Cody Zeller, Roy Hibbert, Spencer Hawes
Prognosis
The Hornets should’ve been good this year but thus far they’ve been mediocre. It’s entirely possible they figure things out, but I wouldn’t bank on that happening against the Raptors. The Raptors should have their way with the Hornets when Kemba sits, as their offense becomes somewhat predictable. If the 3-pointers are falling, I’m calling this one a win.
