Charlotte Hornets Look to Sweep Season Series Against the Magic in Orlando.
Winners of two games in a row, the Charlotte Hornets travel to the Amway Center to face the Orlando Magic in a Southeast division matchup.
The Charlotte Hornets (31-39) are riding high coming off two consecutive wins against teams likely cemented into the playoffs. They hope to snag a third victory in a row when they take on their divisional rival, the Orlando Magic (26-45). Orlando has also won two in a row, against the Suns and 76ers. This is a key game for the Hornets as they try to make a last-ditch push towards the postseason.
It won’t be an easy game, however, as Orlando will want to avoid getting swept by the Hornets in the season series. Orlando’s last game was an overtime win against the 76ers on Monday. In their last game against the Hornets, Charlotte trounced Orlando 121-81 in the Spectrum Center back on March 10th.
The Hornets have won six straight regular-season games against the Magic and eight of their last nine in total. Charlotte has dominated the series as of late while Orlando has taken a back seat to their divisional rivals. The Magic haven’t won at home against the Hornets since 2015.
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Charlotte Hornets at Orlando Magic
7 p.m. EST, Wednesday, March 22nd, 2017
Amway Center
Broadcast on FOX Sports Southeast
Injury Report:
CHA:
Ramon Session (knee surgery) – OUT
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Ankle Strain) – Probable
Johnny O’Bryant (Ankle Sprain) – OUT
Miles Plumlee (Calf Strain) – OUT
ORL:
None
Things to keep an eye on:
Orlando has the lowest three-point shooting percentage in the league at 32.2% (NBA.com) which bodes well for a Hornets team that has trouble defending the three at times. Orlando also has a pretty anemic offense overall where they rank 29th in points per game (NBA.com) scoring just over 100 points per contest. If Charlotte can clamp down on defense, this could be a favorable matchup for them.
After suffering a strained ankle Monday against the Hawks, MKG is listed as probable (CBSsports.com). He may see limited minutes as a result.
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Keys to the game:
Charlotte will want to defend the interior as Nikolai Vecevic and Aaron Gordon provides a formidable 1-2 punch down low. It’ll be up to Cody Zeller, Frank Kaminsky, and Marvin Williams to bear the brunt of that. Evan Fournier has struggled shooting as of late, but he can get hot if the defense slacks.
Winning this game would certainly go a long way towards Charlotte’s slim playoff hopes.