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February is in the books and we move into March and the final quarter of the regular season. The Cavaliers play their third straight home game after a day off, taking on the spiraling Charlotte Hornets. The Hornets hit their high water mark with a record of 28-22 but have since lost 11 of 13. However, three of those losses were in OT, including losses to Minnesota and Miami, so they are capable of playing good basketball on any given night. They will be playing their third game in four days.
Gordon Hayward is out for Charlotte with an ankle injury. Since his last full game the Hornets are 2-7. Rondo and LeVert are out for Cleveland but Darius Garland played some one-on-one yesterday and is listed as questionable.
These teams last played a month ago with the Cavs escaping with a 102-101 win in the game where Ed Davis came off the bench to foul a 3-point shooter. The refs totally blew the call and admitted it later, but it still cost the Cavs four points in a close game. Jarrett Allen had a huge game with 29 points and 22 rebounds the day after learning he wasn’t selected for the All-Star game. Lauri Marrkanen and Darius Garland were out but the Cavs hung on.
Since that game the Cavs have Markkanen back and the Hornets lost Hayward so advantage Cavs. If Garland can go then big advantage for the Cavs.
On Monday the Hornets were trashed by the Bucks 130-106. The Bucks were up 32 points after three quarters and all their starters were +16 to +30. The Hornets appear to be a mess right now but most teams come out slugging after getting smoked (like the T-Wolves Monday) so I expect a strong effort from Charlotte tonight. It seems like the Cavs are getting everybody’s best effort now that they’ve earned some respect.
The Hornets are the NBA’s highest scoring team at 114 ppg. They may be down a little since Hayward’s injury - he averages 16.1 ppg. They are 6th in steals and 2nd in fast break points so this is another team that plays gambling, aggressive defense and goes for steals. The Cavs rank 27th in points given up off turnovers so they need to be vigilant in protecting the ball. The Hornets have a lot of length between Ball, Bridges, Washington, Oubre, and Plumlee.
The Hornets are 9th in 3-point percentage and 16th in 2-point percentage so they’re a little more dangerous from outside. Their top four scorers are wings; PG LaMelo Ball (19.9 ppg), SF Miles Bridges (19.9), Terry Rozier (19.0), and Kelly Oubre (16.1). Backup center Montrezl Harrell averages 14.6 points and 7.0 rebounds in 27 minutes off the bench, including 2.6 offensive boards. Oubre has had games of 39, 37, 35, and 32 this year so when he heats up he can take over a game.
Ball does it all with 7.0 rebounds, 7.4 assists, and a team high 1.5 steals in addition to the 19.9 points. Bridges is shooting 48% from the field. SF Cody Martin is shooting 41% on 3’s off the bench. They have a lot of scorers.
Defensively it’s a different story as the Hornets rank 28th in points allowed per game. They’re 25th in effective field goal percentage and 28th in defensive rebound percentage, so they’re pretty bad at forcing missed shots and even when they do they’re near the bottom at getting the rebound. When Mason Plumlee is out, which is about half the game, they don’t have anybody over 6’7” on the floor. The Cavs should be crashing the offensive glass.
If you can avoid getting the ball stolen you have a good chance of getting a bucket.
The last time these teams played the Cavs only managed 102 points, but with Markkanen back I’m hoping for around 110 while continuing to hold Charlotte to around 100. With Garland playing early in the season the Cavs scored 112 and 113 against Charlotte. The Hornets have scored 123, 110, and 101 in their three games against the Cavs (although the refs gifted them four points in that last game). Hopefully that trend will continue. In the last game the Cavs held Bridges to 12 points and Ball to 15 while Rozier was 4-for-14 on 3’s. We need to do that again tonight.
Gordon Hayward is out for Charlotte with an ankle injury. Since his last full game the Hornets are 2-7. Rondo and LeVert are out for Cleveland but Darius Garland played some one-on-one yesterday and is listed as questionable.
These teams last played a month ago with the Cavs escaping with a 102-101 win in the game where Ed Davis came off the bench to foul a 3-point shooter. The refs totally blew the call and admitted it later, but it still cost the Cavs four points in a close game. Jarrett Allen had a huge game with 29 points and 22 rebounds the day after learning he wasn’t selected for the All-Star game. Lauri Marrkanen and Darius Garland were out but the Cavs hung on.
Since that game the Cavs have Markkanen back and the Hornets lost Hayward so advantage Cavs. If Garland can go then big advantage for the Cavs.
On Monday the Hornets were trashed by the Bucks 130-106. The Bucks were up 32 points after three quarters and all their starters were +16 to +30. The Hornets appear to be a mess right now but most teams come out slugging after getting smoked (like the T-Wolves Monday) so I expect a strong effort from Charlotte tonight. It seems like the Cavs are getting everybody’s best effort now that they’ve earned some respect.
The Hornets are the NBA’s highest scoring team at 114 ppg. They may be down a little since Hayward’s injury - he averages 16.1 ppg. They are 6th in steals and 2nd in fast break points so this is another team that plays gambling, aggressive defense and goes for steals. The Cavs rank 27th in points given up off turnovers so they need to be vigilant in protecting the ball. The Hornets have a lot of length between Ball, Bridges, Washington, Oubre, and Plumlee.
The Hornets are 9th in 3-point percentage and 16th in 2-point percentage so they’re a little more dangerous from outside. Their top four scorers are wings; PG LaMelo Ball (19.9 ppg), SF Miles Bridges (19.9), Terry Rozier (19.0), and Kelly Oubre (16.1). Backup center Montrezl Harrell averages 14.6 points and 7.0 rebounds in 27 minutes off the bench, including 2.6 offensive boards. Oubre has had games of 39, 37, 35, and 32 this year so when he heats up he can take over a game.
Ball does it all with 7.0 rebounds, 7.4 assists, and a team high 1.5 steals in addition to the 19.9 points. Bridges is shooting 48% from the field. SF Cody Martin is shooting 41% on 3’s off the bench. They have a lot of scorers.
Defensively it’s a different story as the Hornets rank 28th in points allowed per game. They’re 25th in effective field goal percentage and 28th in defensive rebound percentage, so they’re pretty bad at forcing missed shots and even when they do they’re near the bottom at getting the rebound. When Mason Plumlee is out, which is about half the game, they don’t have anybody over 6’7” on the floor. The Cavs should be crashing the offensive glass.
If you can avoid getting the ball stolen you have a good chance of getting a bucket.
The last time these teams played the Cavs only managed 102 points, but with Markkanen back I’m hoping for around 110 while continuing to hold Charlotte to around 100. With Garland playing early in the season the Cavs scored 112 and 113 against Charlotte. The Hornets have scored 123, 110, and 101 in their three games against the Cavs (although the refs gifted them four points in that last game). Hopefully that trend will continue. In the last game the Cavs held Bridges to 12 points and Ball to 15 while Rozier was 4-for-14 on 3’s. We need to do that again tonight.
