Swarm and Sting
Fansided

Charlotte Hornets look to continue their 2018 perfection against the Mavericks

By Elijah Edwards

CHARLOTTE, NC - OCTOBER 13: Dwight Howard
CHARLOTTE, NC - OCTOBER 13: Dwight Howard /
facebooktwitterreddit

It’s a new year and thus far, it’s been a good one for the Charlotte Hornets. Can they keep up the momentum against the Dallas Mavericks?

It’s been a rough season for the Charlotte Hornets (15-23), but they’ve managed to pick up some steam as of late. They’ve even won three of their last four on the road, including one against the defending champion Golden State Warriors. Perhaps the team is starting to trend upwards. They’ll look to continue their success when they return home to face the Dallas Mavericks (14-28).

The Hornets are showing signs of life lately and there couldn’t be a better time. According to playoffstatus.com, the Charlotte Hornets have the easiest strength of schedule remaining in the NBA. That bodes well for a team trying to climb out of the proverbial basement.

Charlotte’s last game was a 108-94 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. The Hornets are currently 11th in the East and are six games back of the eighth playoff spot. The Mavericks are coming off a 114-99 win over the Orlando Magic. They are 13th in the West.

More from Swarm and Sting

Charlotte Hornets vs Dallas Mavericks
7:00 p.m. EST, Wednesday, January 10th, 2018
Spectrum Center
Broadcast on Fox Sports Southeast

Injury Report:

CHA:

Cody Zeller – Knee (Out)

Steve Clifford

DAL:

Seth Curry – Leg (Out)

Nerlens Noel – Thumb (Out)

Dorian Finney-Smith – Out (Knee)

Things to keep an eye on:

Nothing Dallas does really stands out, but they are in the top ten in three-point percentage. Charlotte, however, allows the sixth lowest three-point percentage. They even held the Warriors to 36% from behind the arc in their win Oakland. Granted, the Warriors were without Stephen Curry, but that’s still pretty promising. It’ll be interesting to see how well Charlotte defends the perimeter. This may be Dirk Nowitzki‘s last game in Charlotte. Speaking of Dirk, even in the twilight of his career, he’s still knocking down 42% of his threes. We’ll see how well they account for him.

Keys to the game:

As mentioned before, Charlotte will need to defend the perimeter. One other interesting note is that Dallas allows the fourth most opponent rebounds per game. As most Hornets fans know, Charlotte usually dominates on the boards. Dwight Howard will need to play smart and physical down low, especially on the defensive glass. Allowing Dallas offensive boards that could turn into kick-outs for wide open threes would not be wise.

Next: Could Steve Clifford return soon?

This should be a fairly easy win, but nothing is a certainty in the NBA. If the Hornets play within themselves and execute on both ends, they could come away with their third win in a row. Now is the time to string together some wins because if not, the Hornets will be sitting at home come playoff time. We’ll see if they can keep their winning ways going on Wednesday night in Charlotte.

Home/Hornets News