Charlotte will try to snap a four-game losing streak when it wraps up a disappointing season on Sunday afternoon in Cleveland. The Hornets won four out of five games at the end of March, but they have dropped four straight games since then. Cleveland is already locked into the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Charlotte was already expected to be one of the worst teams in the NBA, so it has not been able to overcome some key injuries. The Hornets went 4-14 in their first 18 games and have been struggling virtually ever since then. They won four out of five games at the end of March, picking up back-to-back wins over Dallas and taking down Oklahoma City as a large underdog. Charlotte went winless in its four-game homestand after that, with two of those losses coming to Toronto. The Hornets’ skid continued with a 112-109 setback against Houston on Friday, but they covered the 5.5-point spread.
Gotcha! ??@242_jones | #LetsFly pic.twitter.com/WoGysZrKg4
— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) April 8, 2023
Small forward Svi Mykhailiuk scored 25 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out five assists, going 5 of 14 from 3-point range. Rookie center Mark Williams posted a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds, shooting 5 of 7 from the floor. The Hornets have a laundry list of players listed as questionable for this game, and they are going to be without star point guard LaMelo Ball, who has been out for the season since the beginning of March. Kelly Oubre Jr., Terry Rozier, Gordon Hayward and PJ Washington are all questionable for this contest. Charlotte ranks No. 27 in the NBA in scoring (111.0) and is facing a Cleveland defense that is No. 1 (106.9). The Hornets are only averaging 102.0 points per game, which is nine less than their season average.