Swarm and Sting
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Charlotte Hornets hope to ride out with a win against the Oklahoma City Thunder

By Elijah Edwards

CHARLOTTE, NC - JANUARY 13: Paul George #13 of the Oklahoma City Thunder handles the ball against Kemba Walker #15 of the Charlotte Hornets on January 13, 2018 at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Kent Smith/NBAE via Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NC - JANUARY 13: Paul George #13 of the Oklahoma City Thunder handles the ball against Kemba Walker #15 of the Charlotte Hornets on January 13, 2018 at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Kent Smith/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Sitting at .500 isn’t a terrible place to be this early in the season, but the Charlotte Hornets can’t afford to let the losses pile up. Can they get over the hump when Oklahoma City rolls into town?

It’s not uncommon to see teams underachieving in sports. Whether it’s a lack of chemistry, poor execution late in games, or just bad coaching, you’ll often see teams that on paper, look like they’d be contenders, only to see them stumble.

The Charlotte Hornets (4-4) haven’t exactly underachieved, but they’ve got a few kinks to work out, namely winning close games. It’s a problem that they can certainly correct, but it’s going to have to be sooner rather than later. It’s very easy to get stuck in the bottom half of the conference early on and never be able to get back out. Hornets fans know this all too well.

A team that has definitely underachieved, however, are the Oklahoma City Thunder. Sitting at just 2-4, most expected them to be one of the top five or six teams in the Western Conference. Still, they’ve won two in a row and have one of the better duos in the league in Russell Westbrook and Paul George. So, they’ll most likely climb out of the cellar in the West.

Charlotte’s last games was a 125-113 win over the Miami Heat. They are tied for 6th place in the East. The Thunder’s last game was a 128-110 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. They are 11th in the West.

Charlotte Hornets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
7:00 p.m. EST, Thursday, November 1st, 2018
Spectrum Center
Fox Sports Southeast

Injury Report:

CHA:

None

OKC:

Andre Roberson – Knee surgery (Out)

Things to watch for:

The Hornets will face a pair of solid rebounders in Steven Adams and Russell Westbrook. They managed to outrebound the Heat by five despite Hassan Whiteside getting 12 rebounds by himself. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Willy Hernagomez had eight apiece, which is impressive. In fact, MKG has found new life in not only coming off the bench but by also playing the power forward spot for significant times. I’m sure Coach Borrego will stick to that plan against a Thunder team that is good on the glass.

Keys to the game:

Charlotte’s bench has been phenomenal thus far this season. They’re scoring an average of 47.4 points a game, good for 3rd in the league. Much of that is due to Tony Parker and MKG, but their bench has been solid overall. Look for that continue against a fairly deep Thunder squad.

Something a lot of fans might not realize is that the Hornets are 1st in the NBA in blocks per game. Granted, eight games is a small sample size, but it shows that Charlotte is looking to be more defensive minded. They’ll need to be against the Thunder.

light. Also. Tony Parker has Career Game off the Bench

Charlotte split the season series last year against OKC and I see no reason why they can’t take at least one game this year. It won’t be easy as talented as the Thunder are, but this is a different Hornets team. We’ll see if they can weather the storm against the Thunder tonight in the Queen City.

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