Charlotte Hornets Prepare To Tackle Star-Studded Warriors
By Russ Heltman
Stephen Curry makes his annual homecoming as the Golden State Warriors and the Charlotte Hornets look for bounce-back victories.
The Charlotte Hornets (23-22) welcome the Golden State Warriors (38-7) into the Spectrum Center looking to rebound from a disappointing 109-99 loss at the hands of John Wall and the Washington Wizards. The defeat leaves the Hornets two games back of Washington for the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Meanwhile, the Atlanta Hawks retain the division lead, three games ahead of Charlotte. This is Charlotte’s second and final appearance on ESPN’s national broadcast this season.
On the other side, Golden State is scratching their heads after a 105-102 loss at the hands of Dion Waiters and the Miami Heat. Waiters hit a buzzer-beating three to seal the victory, marking the first time Golden State had lost when Durant/Curry/Thompson all scored 20 points. The loss snapped a seven-game Warrior win streak.
More from Swarm and Sting
- Hornets: Where does Brandon Miller’s ceiling rank among other rookies?
- Charlotte Hornets grade out mostly average in position-by-position ranking
- Hornets News: P.J. Washington makes bold statement on Brandon Miller
- Grade the mock trade: Hornets snag Tyler Herro, flip Gordon Hayward
- Will the Charlotte Hornets be in the 2024 NBA Draft Lottery?
Charlotte Hornets vs Golden State Warriors
8:00 p.m. EST Wednesday, January 25th, 2017
Spectrum Center
Broadcast on ESPN and WatchESPN
Injury Report
CHA:
Jeremy Lamb — Questionable (Inflamed Metatarsal)
Cody Zeller — Questionable (Bruised Quad)
GSW:
No Injured Players
Biggest Story
Hornets Backcourt
One doesn’t need to look far to see why Charlotte lost against Washington, just turn to Nicolas Batum and Kemba Walker. The duo was the lifeblood of the team in the first half of the season, but they didn’t show up against the Wizards. Walker and Batum combined to shoot 3-of-16 from the field in the first half. This goes without mentioning the poor defensive effort from the two. Washington’s potent combo of Wall and Bradley Beal torched Charlotte’s backcourt for 42 combined points.
A repeat of Monday’s performance will spell doom for Charlotte; Klay Thompson (21.1 PPG) and Curry (24.6 PPG, 6.2 APG) make up arguably the best backcourt in the league.
Matchup to Watch
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist vs Kevin Durant
MKG turned in a subpar performance, to say the least against Washington, his matchup, Otto Porter Jr. submitted an impressive 14 point performance on 6-of-11 shooting. Watch here as Porter creeps to the corner, leaving MKG scrambling.
blockquote class=”twitter-video”>
Ball movement creates 🔥👌🔥👌🔥👌#WizHornets on @CSNMA + pic.twitter.com/bMnk0gXnVo
— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) January 24, 2017
If MKG gets caught like that against Kevin Durant (26.1 PPG, 8.5 RPG). Game Over.
Next: Four Trades to Help the Charlotte Hornets
KD is having the most efficient season of his career, posting a 54.3 field goal percentage thus far, good for 10th in the NBA and 2nd among forwards. MKG has to keep the Texas product contained to the perimeter and limit his ability to attack the rim. Containing KD comes down to forcing jump shots, but sometimes when they are being shot by one of the top players in the world defensive game plans can go out the window.