Before I start the Game Preview for the Charlotte Hornets, I would like to take a moment and thank all of the men and women who serve the United States in the Armed Forces. Thank you for your sacrifices and we are forever grateful for what you have done and continue to do for us to live in the land of the free.
The Charlotte Hornets are set to take on Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks on a Veteran’s Day game. Charlotte is hoping to win their second game of a back to back and get their record to .500 for the first time this season. If they win the game they will be 4-4 on the year.
Both teams are coming off of a win and will be playing their second game in as many nights. The Knicks beat the Toronto Raptors in a close game last night and are now looking to come into Charlotte and defeat the Hornets in their second consecutive road game.
The Hornets are coming off of a quality win against the Minnesota Timberwolves where they were led by their bench and most of the Charlotte starters struggled. The team is coming off of a three game road trip where they went 2-1 against some pretty good opponents. They haven’t had much time to practice as they have been on the road a lot lately and they are playing in the second half of a back to back against the Knicks.
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Both of these teams made big moves in the off-season as they added many new players. The Knicks added guys like Kyle O’Quinn, Robin Lopez, Aaron Afflalo, Derrick Williams, and they also drafted Latvian rookie Kristaps Porzingis. They have become a far more competitive team this year than they were last season as they now have better talent on their roster.
As we all know, the Charlotte Hornets have gotten a lot better this year than they were last season with the additions of Jeremy Lin, Jeremy Lamb, Nicolas Batum, and drafting rookie Frank Kaminsky.
It will be interesting to see if the Charlotte Hornets have any changes to their rotation or starting line-up in this one because P.J. Hairston left their last game with a migraine and did not return. Jeremy Lamb, Jeremy Lin, and Cody Zeller have played great off of the bench for the Hornets and may be in line to start in this one if P.J. can not go.
The Hornets will need their starters and especially their stars of Kemba Walker and Big Al Jefferson to step up their game in this one and give the team a quality performance. They have been carried by their bench a few times and while they can keep up their stellar play, more contribution from the starters would do the Charlotte Hornets a lot of good going forward.
New York Knicks (4-4) @ Charlotte Hornets (3-4)
7:00 p.m. EST, November 11th, 2015 – Time Warner Cable Arena
Injury Update:
CHA: P.J. Hairston – QUESTIONABLE (migraine), Michael Kidd-Gilchrist – OUT (right shoulder surgery), missed last seven games
NYK: Arron Afflalo (Strained Left Hamstring) – Doubtful
Biggest Story:
While this may seem a bit simple to say that this is the biggest story but Jeremy Lin (Insanity) will be facing his former team in the New York Knicks where his stardom first began.
The Knicks decided not to re-sign Lin when his contract was up and they also decided not to match an offer that Lin was given by the Rockets because he was a restricted free agent. There is not really any bad blood between the two sides but wouldn’t it be a great story if there was?
So let’s just say that Lin will try his best to get revenge against the team that didn’t want him back, even though he will never say this and may not even think it. It would make the game that much better if he drops 20 points on them tonight.
Best Match-up to Watch:
The best match-up to watch in this game is whoever is guarding Carmelo Anthony. It could be anyone from Nicolas Batum to P.J. Hairston to Marvin Williams to open the game.
Carmelo is still one of the best scorers in the NBA even though he is getting up there in age. He is averaging 21.9 points per game this season which is a bit down from his usual average but he is still averaging more points than any Charlotte Hornets’ player this year.
It will be interesting to see who gets the task of covering Melo tonight but it will be key to shut him down if the Hornets want to take control of this game. Anthony is still the Knicks best player so he is still the guy that defenses lock on and need to stop before he gets going.
He is coming off of a game where he scored 25 points against the Toronto Raptors. Hopefully the Charlotte Hornets can stop his hot shooting and it does not carry over from Toronto.
Next: The Charlotte Hornets Will Make the Playoffs
Check back with Swarm and Sting for a post game recap and the latest news on the Charlotte Hornets.