Welcome to Buzz City Beat, a daily roundup of the best articles from around the internet surrounding the Charlotte Hornets.
The team is set to give away 7,500 Frank Kaminsky Stormtrooper bobbleheads when they take on LA. In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we preview the Charlotte Hornets‘ game against the Los Angeles Lakers while also looking at if they are the most embarrassing team in the NBA and how Marcus Paige‘s 32 points led the Greensboro Swarm to victory.
Charlotte vs Los Angeles Lakers preview and prediction (RealSport101.com)
"Charlotte are 2-1 on the back end of playing games on consecutive days, and this is the first time they’re doing it with back-to-back home games. The hedge here is that Caldwell-Pope picks up the offensive slack to neutralize Walker as the Lakers scrape their way to a 103-99 win."
The Lonzo Ball/LaVar Ball show comes to the Queen City. Although LA picked up a win versus Philly in their last game, they had lost their previous five before that. Beating the Lakers starts with slowing down the duo of Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma who each lead the team with 16.2 points per game.
As for the Hornets, they are on a two-game losing streak and have lost six of their last seven in total. This game should be seen as a must-win after falling to the Chicago Bulls who have the worst record in the league. Even though Charlotte will be shorthanded and on the second night of a back to back, they need to find a way to win this game. If they don’t it could be the beginning of the end for them. Despite their struggles, I’m still picking the Hornets to win this one as they are at home and I believe that Kemba Walker and Dwight Howard will do enough to get the victory.
Are the Hornets the most embarrassing team in the NBA? (TheComeback.com)
"That shouldn’t be a roster losing home games to this dumpster fire Bulls team, and especially not two games to the Bulls in three weeks. That shouldn’t be a roster with the NBA’s worst road record at 1-10. There are worse teams than the Hornets, but it would be hard to identify a more disappointing one right now."
I would have to agree that there isn’t a more disappointing team in the NBA than Charlotte. There were such high expectations surrounding the Hornets but they have severely underperformed. Even with all of the injuries that they’ve had to endure, there’s no reason as to why they should be six games under .500, have the third worst record in the East and have only one win away from home.
While I still don’t see Michael Jordan cleaning house or having a fire sale to start a rebuild mid-season, the possibility of that happening is becoming more likely or at least more sensible. Luckily for Charlotte, it’s still pretty early and despite their poor start, they are still only four games out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. No one saw this team being this bad.
Marcus Paige drops 32 points in Swarm victory (Gleague.NBA.com)
"Guard Marcus Paige had a career-high 32 points on 12-of-15 shooting, including a stellar 8-for-9 on 3-pointers, to propel the Greensboro Swarm (5-9) to a 132-126 victory over the visiting Reno Bighorns (4-8) at the Fieldhouse at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex on Friday night. Paige was one of seven Swarm players to score in double figures."
Next: Early 2018 Draft Preview: Williams, Duval, Knox, and Bridges
Less than two weeks are setting a career-high with 27 points versus the Maine Red Claws, Marcus Paige beat that mark as he had 32 against Reno as he made eight of nine three-point shots. Hornets’ assignee, Julyan Stone, started the game for Greensboro and even though he only scored five points, he did dish out an eye-popping 14 assists. After a five-game losing streak, the Swarm have now won their last two outings.