Charlotte Hornets Report: Week of January 14th 2020

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LAST 5 GAMES

-       vs. Indiana Pacers: L, 104-115

-       vs. Toronto Raptors: L, 110-112 (OT)

-       @ Utah Jazz: L, 92-109

-       @ Phoenix Suns: L, 92-100

-       @ Portland Trailblazers: L, 112-115

Last week, we missed out on the Hornets Report, but we are back this week. I don’t have to go into to detail about how bad of a week it was because you can literally just look at the last 5 games above. The Hornets are playing some crappy basketball, but somehow are still 9th in the Eastern Conference. Since December 15th, the Hornets have a 3-12 record. Things aren’t looking great and you can’t blame the players and the staff, you have to look at the front office. They simply don’t have the talent to compete and we are finally seeing that in January. I shouldn’t even give out a Hornets MVP this week, but if I have to, I’d say it’s Terry Rozier. He has 23.9 PPG over his last 7. The rest of the week doesn’t look good either for Charlotte, but they’ll get a decent amount of rest over the next couple weeks. 

NEXT 3 GAMES

-       @ Denver Nuggets (27-12): Wednesday, January 15th at 9pm

-       vs. Orlando Magic (19-21): Monday, January 20th at 5pm 

-       vs. Milwaukee Bucks (35-6): Friday, January 24th at 3pm

First on the slate is the team that holds the 2nd spot in the Western Conference. They’ll play the Nuggets on the road and it will be a tough way out. Nikola Jokić is one of my favorite players right now and he has been on a tear here lately. They have a complete team and the Hornets will definitely have their hands full tomorrow night. Forcing the Nuggets to take ill-advised shots could be a recipe for success. The Nuggets are a very smart team offensively and they have the 5th best scoring defense in the NBA. Again, it will be a tough contest for Charlotte. 

Next is the Orlando Magic at home. The Hornets will have 5 days rest between the Nuggets and the Magic, which is ample time to prepare here. This could be the ideal streak breaker if things don’t work out in Denver tomorrow night. This will be the first of 4 meetings with the Magic and this will be on MLK Day, so if you’re not doing anything, make sure to be in attendance. The Magic have a lot of talent on their roster, but it is filled with guys not known to the casual fan. They have a really deep roster and honestly, they could be one piece away from being a contender. Nikola Vučević is the biggest star on the roster, but Evan Fournier is their leading scorer at 19.2 PPG. They also have Dunk Phenom, Aaron Gordon. It isn’t going to be an easy game, but one that the Hornets can win if they play their cards right. 

The last game of the two-week slate will be against the league’s best team. Also, another interesting fact about this game is that they will play in France. I don’t want to say the Hornets don’t have a shot against the Bucks, but they don’t really have a chance against the Bucks. They are tied for the number 1 spot in scoring offense and they’re also in the top third of scoring defense. They have the 2nd best FG percentage and are the best rebounding team by a large margin. The Hornets would have to make no mistakes and basically play a perfect game to win. The environment in France may throw the Bucks off, but I’m not expecting it. 

Yacs