The Milwaukee Bucks will host the Charlotte Hornets on Friday, with tipoff slated for 8:00 PM Eastern. The Bucks are coming off a loss to Minnesota while the Hornets fell to Toronto.
Let's dive in.
The Hornets had many opportunities to come away with the win over Toronto, including holding a lead with under four minutes to go. The Charlotte defense was unable to get key stops, however, and ultimately fell in a 123-117 final. Charlotte shot just under 50% from the floor and connected on 41% of their shots from deep. However, the defense allowed Toronto to shoot over 50% from anywhere on the court. Miles Bridges had a career night as he logged 45 points, including six 3-pointers.
Charlotte enters this game averaging 108.7 points per contest, which lands them at 28th in the league. The Hornets have struggled getting points down low and currently sit 20th in the NBA with under 50 inside points per game. They also sit in the bottom half of the league in 3-point percentage. The poor shooting has resulted in Charlotte sitting 28th in effective field goal percentage and the only shooting category they are sitting in the top half of the league in is free-throw percentage. Unfortunately, nobody gets to the line at a lower rate than the Hornets. On top of that, turnovers have been a thorn in their side as the Hornets struggle to take care of the ball at times. The key for the offense here will be to snag missed shots and generate second chance scoring opportunities.
On the defensive end of the court, Charlotte is allowing 120.4 points per game, which lands them at 25th in the NBA. The Hornets have struggled to get stops in the paint and they currently sit 25th points allowed down low as foes are scoring near 55 paint points per game. Similar to how the offense has struggled, the defense sits last in the NBA in opponent effective field goal percentage and this is further hindered by their bottom opponent 3-point percentage. On the plus side, Charlotte has done a solid job closing out possessions and eliminating second chance scoring opportunities. If the Hornets want to hang around with the Bucks here they will not only need to limit offensive rebounds, but will also need to force turnovers and create quick transition baskets. Something the defense has struggled to do this season.