Tonight, the Charlotte Hornets will return home to Spectrum Center looking to snap a two-game skid against Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers. LeBron James will be out for this one, but the Hornets are still shorthanded with LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller on the shelf.
Can Charlotte pull off a stunner tonight in the Queen City? Here are our picks.
For some reason, I have this gut feeling that the Hornets are going to mess around and have a lead heading into the fourth quarter. The one thing that has plagued this team all year, so far, is the big quarter. Almost every night, they have one frame where they allow 35+ and, as we just recently witnessed, 50+. Luka catches fire late, and the Lakers win comfortably.
With LaMelo already ruled out, anything but a double-digit loss in this one should be considered a success. I’m very worried about who is going to even try and guard Doncic and Reaves, who are both averaging 30+ points this year.
The Lakers are on fire right now, and there’s not much anyone on the Hornets can do to slow down Luka Doncic. Without LaMelo Ball, they will also have a terribly hard time trying to keep up scoring, even if the Lakers aren’t a defensive juggernaut. This one should be a laugher, which is becoming all the more common without Ball and Brandon Miller.
The Hornets took down the Lakers in a massive upset in February, but that ain’t happening tonight. Down their two best players in LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller, the Hornets are at a major talent disadvantage against a team with two potential All-Stars in Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
The Hornets have struggled mightily lately, winning only 1 of their last six games. They face off against a Lakers team, which, although it is coming off a loss itself, has had one of the better offenses in the NBA to start the young season. Luka Doncic is looking like the MVP, Austin Reaves is looking like an All-Star, and the Hornets will potentially be missing all of their top three scorers tonight in LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, and Miles Bridges.
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