Game Preview: Charlotte Hornets hope to win fourth straight against the New York Knicks
The Charlotte Hornets are riding high; winning three games in a row for the first time this season. Can they extend it to four games when the struggling New York Knicks come to town?
The Charlotte Hornets (14-13) really know how to extend a win streak in exciting fashion. Had it not been for a last-second shot by Jeremy Lamb Wednesday night against the Detroit Pistons, we could be singing a different tune.
Thankfully, he made it and now the Hornets are in a very good position to extend their streak against a New York Knicks (8-21) team they’ve already defeated once this season.
Still, let’s not get our hopes just yet. As we all know, the Hornets have been defeated by inferior opponents a few times this season. In fact, the bottom three teams in the Eastern Conference have victories over Charlotte.
It can very easily be the bottom four if Charlotte plays down to their competition, which we all know they can. I prefer to be an optimist, however, so hopefully, those concerns won’t become an issue.
Charlotte’s last game was a 108-107 nailbiter against the Detroit Pistons. They lept that very same team in the standings and are now 6th in the East. The Knicks’ last game was a 106-113 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. They currently are 12th in the East. This is the second of three games between these two squads this season.
Charlotte Hornets vs New York Knicks
7:00 p.m. EST, Friday, December 14th, 2018
Spectrum Center
Fox Sports Southeast
Injury Report:
CHA:
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist – Personal (Game-Time Decision)
NYK:
Lance Thomas – Knee (Game-Time Decision)
Damyean Dotson – Shoulder (Game-Time Decision)
Trey Burke – Knee (Out)
Allonzo Trier – Hamstring (Out)
Kiristaps Porzingis – Knee (Out)
Things to watch for:
This will be the second chance in as many tries that the Hornets can hand a team their sixth straight loss. Like the Pistons before them, the Knicks have also lost five straight, including that aforementioned loss to the Hornets in New York.
It’s interesting seeing something like that play out. MKG sat out of the team’s last game, with the team stating it being due to personal reasons. According to CBSSports, he was seen practicing with the team on Thursday, so that’s an encouraging sign.
Keys to the game:
Defend the three. In their last game, the Knicks shot 50% from behind the arc; going 13-26 on their perimeter shooting. If it wasn’t for New York sending the Hornets to the free-throw line 27 times, Charlotte might have lost that game.
Given that the Knicks are 19th in the NBA in three-point shooting percentage, they should not be allowed to shoot that well from deep. Regardless of their shooting, if the Knicks decide to get foul happy again, attacking the basket would be wise
Next. Can Jeremy Lamb be the secondary closer the Charlotte Hornets need?. dark
They’ve done it before, and they can do it again against New York, but if they have another bad third quarter in this game as they did against the Pistons, it’s going to be rough. If they can play a full 48 minutes, a win should be in their grasp. Here’s hoping they come out with a win Friday night in the Spectrum Center.