Charlotte Hornets travel to Minnesota to face Timberwolves

Losers of two straight, the Charlotte Hornets will look to right the ship when they head to Minnesota to play the Timberwolves.

As most Charlotte area sports fans know, a season can go downhill very quickly. What was once a promising campaign is now one filled with questions and doubt. This holds true for the Charlotte Hornets (11-12) right now as the team just can’t get on a decent winning streak.

In fact, in their last ten games, the Hornets are 4-6. Even more perplexing is the way they’ve won and lost.  Over that ten game span, they’ve lost two, won two, lost two, won two, and then lost two yet again.

So, it’s hard predicting how this team is going to play on a day-to-day basis. There are even questions regarding Kemba Walker‘s play as of late. The last time your captain led the team in scoring was on November 23rd, against the Oklahoma City Thunder. That’s a span of five games.

Now, you don’t expect him to lead every night, but that’s quite a bit of time for a guy who, at one time, was the leading scorer in the NBA. Perhaps it wasn’t realistic to think he’d stay there, but he’s definitely in a slump.

Hopefully he can break out of that slump against the Minnesota Timberwolves (12-12). This will be the first of two games Charlotte will play against Minnesota. Charlotte’s last games was a 109-119 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. They are tied for 7th in the Eastern Conference. Minnesota’s last outing was a 103-91 win over the Houston Rockets. They are 10th in the West.

Charlotte Hornets at Minnesota Timberwolves
8:00 p.m. EST, Wednesday, December 5th, 2018
Target Center
Fox Sports Southeast

Injury Report:

CHA:

Cody Zeller – Ribs (Available to play)

Marvin Williams – Shoulder (Out)

MIN: 

Jerryd Bayless – Knee (Out)

Things to watch for:

Don’t be fooled by Minnesota’s record. They may be at .500, but that’s mainly due to them starting the season off slowly.

They’ve won 8 of their last 11, so they’re currently on a bit of a roll. Combine this with the Hornet’s 3-7 road record and there is cause for concern. I have a feeling we’ll require the services of the on-fire version of Kemba Walker, so fans better pray to the basketball gods that he shows up.

Keys to the game:

Minnesota is a team that knows how to distribute scoring duties. They have six players who average double-digit points per game, including Derrick Rose, who is having a bit of a resurgence this season, averaging 18 points a game.

That kind of depth is hard to plan for, especially on the road. Despite their wide arsenal of scoring, the T’Wolves rank only 23rd in the league in field goal percentage. If Charlotte can be physical and avoid letting shooters take wide open looks, that could be a catalyst for a win.

The season is far from over, but Charlotte has to start getting wins away from home if they want to even sniff the playoffs. Let’s hope they can do just that Wednesday night in Minnesota.