Swarm and Sting
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Charlotte Hornets seek first win against the Miami Heat this season

By Elijah Edwards

CHARLOTTE, NC - DECEMBER 15: Goran Dragic
CHARLOTTE, NC - DECEMBER 15: Goran Dragic /
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The Charlotte Hornets have enjoyed recent success. Yet, they’re winless against their divisional rivals, the Miami Heat, this season. They’ll look to correct that Saturday night when the Heat come to town.

Things are pointing upward for the Charlotte Hornets (18-25) as of late. They’ve gotten their head coach back, won six of their last nine, and are only four games back of the final playoff spot. While it’s nice to be positive, Charlotte still has long ways to go in terms of securing a playoff bid. Securing their first win against the Miami Heat (26-19) this season would surely help.

There’s something about divisional matchups that the Charlotte Hornets seem to like. In fact, they’re 5-2 versus the Southeast division thus far. Unfortunately, their next opponent is 6-3 against the Southeast. Not much better, but combine that with the fact that the Heat are 2-0 against the Hornets this season, and you have cause for concern. Still, Those two wins are by a combined 11 points, so the Hornets have had chances to beat the Heat.

Charlotte’s last game was a convincing win against the Washington Wizards, 133-109. They are currently 11th in the East. Miami is coming off a 95-101 loss to the Brooklyn Nets. They are 4th in the East.

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Charlotte Hornets vs Miami Heat
7:00 p.m. EST, Saturday, January 20th, 2018
Spectrum Center
Broadcast on Fox Sports Southeast

Injury Report:

CHA:

Cody Zeller – Knee (Out)

MIA:

Tyler Johnson – Ankle (Out)

Dion Waiters – Ankle (Out)

Okaro White – Foot (Out)

Rodney McGruder – Leg (Out)

Things to keep an eye on:

This will be the second road game in as many days for the Heat and with so many injuries, the team could get fatigued late in the game. This will be the first time Hassan Whiteside has actually played against Charlotte this year as he was injured in the previous two games. Dwight Howard and Whiteside are both in the top ten in the league in rebounds per game, with Dwight having the edge. This one could get chippy as they try to outwork each other for rebounds.

Keys to the game:

Here’s an interesting tidbit: At the time of writing this, Charlotte is the only team in the top ten in defensive rating without a winning record. The nine other teams all have winning records. Miami is tenth in defensive rating, just behind Charlotte. The scores of their previous matchups lend some credence to this with the highest scoring being 105 points by the Heat. One would assume this trend will continue, but Charlotte has been filling it up as of late, having scored 118 and 133 in their last two games. Given how close they’ve played each other thus far, it’s hard to tell who will have the edge, but Charlotte will definitely be more rested. If they can play more up-tempo and wear the Heat out, they can come away with a win.

Next: Determining Nic Batum's trade value

Crunchtime is approaching and so far, the Hornets look poised to make a run. They’ll need to improve upon that divisional record in order to do so. We’ll see if they can finally take down the Heat Saturday night in Charlotte.

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