The Charlotte Hornets (7-21; 12-16-0 ATS) and Phoenix Suns (15-15; 11-18-1 ATS) will have the first of their two meetings this season on Friday night. Round one will be in Footprint Center, scheduled to start at 9:00 p.m. EDT. There, the Suns will seek a sixth straight win over the Hornets in head-to-head matchups. Will they be successful at home, or are the Hornets headed for a victory in the desert? There's only one way to find out.
(Published before the Hornets game on Thursday)
LaMelo Ball, Gordon Hayward, and Mark Williams are all out. Rookie Brandon Miller is questionable. Before facing the Lakers on Thursday night, Charlotte had an eight-game losing streak. That's how the Hornets are entering Phoenix this weekend. Charlotte's issues begin with the NBA's second-worst defensive rating. Foes have a 57.2% effective field goal percentage against them which is 27th in the league. Opponents take 37.6% of their shots at the rim against Charlotte (25th) and hit 38.8% of threes (28th). The Hornets are also 24th in defensive rebounding percentage and 25th in free throw attempts against per game. Getting stops is a major issue for this squad.
Yet, scoring isn't any easier, as the Hornets are 26th in offensive rating. The team is 25th in true shooting percentage and averages the second-fewest free throw attempts per contest. They're also below average when it pertains to ball secur ity and offensive rebounding. Only 34.7% of Charlotte's shot attempts come from beyond the arc, which ranks 28th in the NBA. They connect on 34.6% (25th) of those three-point attempts. Losing LaMelo Ball was always going to hurt the offense, but he alone shouldn't be responsible for such a low level of play.