Buzz City Beat: Charlotte Hornets @ Dallas Mavericks prediction, Dwayne Bacon producing in extended minutes
Buzz City Beat is Swarm and Sting’s one stop for the latest news and stories from around the web about the Charlotte Hornets.
The Queen City team has a slightly better chance of getting the first overall pick in the upcoming draft (1%) than they do of making the playoffs (less than 1%). (FiveThirtyEight.com) In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we preview the Charlotte Hornets meeting with the Dallas Mavericks while also looking at Dwayne Bacon‘s recent run of form and the Greensboro Swarm’s loss to the Grand Rapids Drive.
Hornets @ Mavericks prediction (SportsChatPlace.com)
"Dwight Howard had to sit out the Hornets’ last game after picking up his 16th technical on Wednesday, but that didn’t seem to slow down the Hornets who put on a show in their biggest win of the season. This one could go either way, but I’m sticking with the Hornets to pick up a third straight win in this one."
Charlotte will look to avoid being swept by Dallas as they lost their last meeting back on January 10th, 115-111. The Hornets are looking to pick up their third consecutive victory while the Mavericks have lost four straight and eight of their last 11 in total heading into this one. Mavs’ head coach Rick Carlisle said that he would have the double teams ready for Dwight Howard in this one.
Kemba Walker scored 41 points last time these two teams played and he is coming off of a 61-point performance so this could be another big game for the two-time all-star. FiveThirtyEight.com gives the Mavs a 54% chance to win this game. Going against the numbers, I think that Charlotte will win this one fairly easily. FINAL: Hornets 118. Mavericks 105.
Dwayne Bacon producing in extended minutes (NumberFire.com)
"Dwayne Bacon scored 15 points (6-of-14 field goals, 3-of-3 free throws) with 3 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals in 31.2 minutes of Thursday’s 140-79 destruction of the Memphis Grizzlies. The assists are a new career-high for the second-round pick, who also topped 30 minutes for just the second time this season."
For the second time in his last four outings, the Hornets’ rookies put up 15 points. That’s the first time he’s scored in double-digits since early-November. The only other time that he received 30+ minutes was on November 3rd. Dwayne had a career-high five assists against the Grizzlies including this dime to Mangok Mathiang. (VIDEO)
Bacon is playing well lately averaging 10.2 points per game, 3.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1 steal while shooting 43.5% from the field and 85.7% from the free throw line over his last four games for Charlotte. Dwayne should continue to get ample playing time until Nicolas Batum returns from injury.
Swarm struggles versus Grand Rapids Drive (Gleague.NBA.com)
"The Grand Rapids Drive (28-21) got off to a hot start and did not look back as they defeated the Greensboro Swarm (16-33) by a 116-97 final at home on Friday night. The Drive led by 16 points at the end of the first quarter, pushed their lead to as much as 26 points and never trailed in the game."
Next: MJ still wants Mitch Kupchak for GM
Greensboro only had three players score in double-figures with T.J. Williams (26 points) and Damien Wilkins (24 points) leading the way. The Charlotte Hornets’ G-League affiliate fell back down to earth after their last game which they won because of a Marcus Paige game-winner in the closing seconds versus the South Bay Lakers. They’ve now lost four of their last five games. The Swarm’s last game of the 2017-18 season will be against the Windy City Bulls.