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Weekly Roundup: Charlotte Hornets’ Week Leads up to Toronto

By Josh Wilson

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Jan 8, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors guard

Kyle Lowry

(7) dribbles past Charlotte Hornets guard

Kemba Walker

(15) during the fourth quarter at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Peter Llewellyn-USA TODAY Sports

Hornets vs. Raptors, March 6th, 7:00 PM

The last game of the work week will take place on Friday, up in the cold country of Canada. Toronto will be a huge test and a tough way to end the week for Charlotte, but the whole week will be a build up to this point. The roster will be somewhat fresh coming into this week with Mo Williams still being fairly new, and Bismack Biyombo coming back to the lineup, meaning these easier games this week will be great to get everyone back into the swing of things.

This game will be the hardest one of the week. The Raptors are currently second in the Eastern Conference, and could easily be one of the teams Charlotte faces in the first round if they make it to the playoffs. Winning this game would be big, and might send a message to the rest of the East.

Earlier this year, before the All Star break, the Hornets were able to take down the Wizards in two consecutive games. These spoke a lot, but since then, they’ve fallen back a bit, losing five in a row. Winning against Toronto could really prove something. They already have won the game they played against them earlier this year, and have improved since them. Winning this game is right in their ballpark.

The Raptors have a high powered offense, rating in at third in the league, and a low powered defense, coming in at 17th. Going up against Charlotte’s high powered defense and low powered offense, this should be an exciting game to watch.

Kyle Lowry and Demar Derozan are both players known for their ability to score. Charlotte must contain them.

The stats show that the Raptors can score, but do most of it within the three point line. Not a single player on their roster averages more than two three pointers a game. Compared to another great team, the Los Angeles Clippers, things are very different. The Clippers have seven players above two three pointers per game.

This is good for the Hornets, because that means the Raptors look towards attacking the rim to score. With Al Jefferson recently holding things down in the post, and the return of Biyombo, things could go very well for the Hornets this game.

Looking at all these games one by one, they’re all games the Hornets can win. However, given that they’ll be on the road for some, that can contribute to leaving the players off their game a bit. There’s no time zone change, so no jet lag, but still, going all the way up to New York and Canada can be hectic, and it may put the Hornets at a disadvantage for some of these games.

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