Gameday: Raptors @ Hornets, November 29

Toronto hits the road once again after enjoying a successful four-for-four home stand. The win streak is at nine games now, and their opportunity to hit the double-digit mark comes against a struggling Hornets team. Can the Raptors keep the good times rolling?

Raptors Outlook

Record: 14-5 | 2nd in Eastern Conference
Offensive Rating: 117.4 (8th) | Defensive Rating: 110.8 (4th) | Net Rating: +6.5 (5th)

Raptors previous results

vs Pacers W 97-95

vs Cavaliers W 110-99

vs Nets W 119-109

vs Wizards W 140-110

vs 76ers W 121-112

The Raptors are coming into the night on a nine-game win streak. Quite the accomplishment, but they are one win behind the Oklahoma City Thunder’s current win streak of 10 games, which is a league high at the moment. Toronto will be tasked with the Charlotte Hornets, who are struggling heavily lately as they’ve lost seven games in a row prior to last night’s win against Chicago. The first meeting between these two was a tight one as Toronto opened up the season series with a 110-108 win with a defensive stand at the buzzer.

That takes us to the last game, when Brandon Ingram came through just before the buzzer once again for Toronto when he knocked down 2 of his game-high 26 points to give Toronto a 97-95 lead with just 0.6 seconds to go in the game against Indiana.

Hornets Outlook

Record: 5-14 | 12th in Eastern Conference
Offensive Rating: 114.4 (17th) | Defensive Rating: 119.8 (25th) | Net Rating: -5.4 (23rd)

Hornets previous results

vs Bulls W 120-105

vs Knicks L 129-101

at Hawks L 113-110

vs Clippers L 131-116

at Pacers L 127-118

For the Hornets, it wasn’t a terrible start at 4-7, but since then, a seven-game losing streak before last night’s win against Chicago has already put doubts in the mind of a franchise struggling to clinch postseason berths. The starting lineup has been relatively healthy for Charlotte as their main guys, LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges, with the latter having featured in all contests. Ball has missed seven games so far, and they recently got their 2023 2nd overall pick back with Brandon Miller. Rookies Kon Knuppel and Ryan Kalkbrenner have also been a part of their starting lineup and haven’t looked too shabby, especially Knuppel, who’s already had a 32-point outing in his young career against the Milwaukee Bucks during a 147-134 overtime loss just over two weeks ago on November 14. It’s not all bad for the Hornets, though, as even though they’re 10 games under .500, they still feature a young core and have been playing in close games all season, as their net rating isn’t terrible at -5,4 which shows you that they truly aren’t as bad as their record suggests. They proved it against the Raptors last time out when they lost only by two points at the buzzer when Scottie Barnes had the game-sealing block.