Buzz City Beat: Charlotte Hornets vs Clippers prediction, Kemba makes franchise history
Welcome to Buzz City Beat, a daily roundup of the latest news and stories from around the internet surrounding the Charlotte Hornets.
Kemba Walker has been downgraded to questionable for tonight’s game with a left wrist sprain. In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we preview the Charlotte Hornets game against the Los Angeles Clippers, take a look at Kemba Walker making franchise history and how the Greensboro Swarm lost to the Westchester Knicks.
Hornets vs Clippers prediction (RealSport101.com)
"This game will be equal parts entertaining and sloppy, but the hedge is that the Clippers will have just enough to end their skid with a 119-115 victory,"
Charlotte’s looking to put an end to their current six-game losing streak. Even though Los Angeles has lost their last seven games heading into this one, they are still a dangerous team with star talent in Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. It will be interesting to see how Dwight Howard matches up with the Clippers’ all-star center.
Based on how poorly both teams have played recently, this game is a toss-up. I want to pick the Hornets because they are at home but after losing to the worst team in the NBA, it’s hard to have any confidence in them. If Kemba plays, Charlotte wins. If he’s out because of the wrist injury, then their losing streak will continue.
Kemba’s big night sets a new record for Charlotte (BlacherReport.com)
"Fact: Kemba Walker scored a season-high 47 points in the Charlotte Hornets’ loss to the Chicago Bulls. He’s now the only player in Hornets franchise history with multiple career games with 45-plus points."
This was an amazing performance from Kemba who exploded for a season-high 47 points. This is the second-highest single game point total Walker has ever reached only behind a 52 point game versus the Utah Jazz during the 2015-16 season. This was also the fifth time in his career that he eclipsed the 40-point mark in a game.
It’s too bad that this great outing was overshadowed by a disappointing loss to the Chicago Bulls. None of Charlotte’s greats have ever reached the mark that Kemba has now set. Even though Dell Curry, Larry Johnson and Glen Rice were all great scorers, none of them have had multiple 45+ point games for the Hornets.
Greensboro Swarm lose to the Westchester Knicks (Gleague.NBA.com)
"The Westchester Knicks (4-3), the official G League affiliate of the New York Knickerbockers, put itself back over .500 with a 95-86 win at home against the Greensboro Swarm (2-3), the Charlotte Hornets’ affiliate."
Next: The honeymoon stage is over for Dwight and Charlotte
T.J. Williams led Greensboro with 25 points to go along with five rebounds, five steals and four assists. Two-way player Mangok Mathiang put up 15 points and nine boards before fouling out in only 24 minutes. The Swarm has now dropped two straight and three of their last four. They are struggling a bit without Jalen Jones and Charles Cooke who re-joined their parent team in the New Orleans Pelicans.