Charlotte Hornets return home to face the Sacramento Kings
After a brutal six-game road stretch, the Charlotte Hornets finally return home. They’ll look to avenge last week’s loss to the Sacramento Kings.
After going 2-4 on arguably the toughest slate of games they’ll have this season, the Charlotte Hornets (20-23) can finally return to the Queen City. It couldn’t come at a better time, too, because they are in danger of losing the 8th seed in the East and with another tough road stint looming on the horizon, they’ll need all the help they can get.
Their next matchup will be a revenge game against the Sacramento Kings (23-21). If you’ll remember, the Hornets lost a fairly close one to the Kings back on January 12th in Sacramento. Charlotte had chances to win that game, but a paltry 17 point third quarter helped seal their fate.
The Hornets’ last game was a much-needed 108-93 road win over the San Antonio Spurs. They are yet again in the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Kings’ last outing was a 115-107 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. They are 10th in the West. This is the second of two games against the Kings for the Hornets.
Charlotte Hornets vs Sacramento Kings
7:00 p.m. EST, Thursday, January 17th, 2019
Spectrum Center
Fox Sports Southeast
Injury Report:
CHA:
Cody Zeller – Hand (Out)
SAC:
None
Things to watch for:
Much like Charlotte’s previous opponent, the Kings are accurate from three, shooting just under 39% from behind the arc, good for 2nd in the league. They shot close to that in their matchup almost a week ago.
The Hornets did hold the Spurs to 35% from deep, so hopefully, that can transition to this game as well. If the Hornets can avoid committing 20 turnovers as they did in their last contest against the Kings, they should have a much better chance of winning this one.
Keys to the game:
Take care of the ball. As I mentioned earlier, the Hornets had 20 turnovers in their last matchup with Sacramento. That’s not exactly a formula for success, especially against a team like the Kings who can utilize that to get open looks on the fastbreak.
Working the boards should also be a priority as the Kings give up the most rebounds in the NBA, allowing almost 49 a game. Charlotte isn’t a great rebounding team, however, ranking just 20th in the league per game, though they were able to outrebound the Kings 68-55 in their last contest. It’s safe to say we may see more of the same.
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Charlotte should be ready to go after a few days rest and with the loss to the Kings still fresh in their minds, you know they’re going to want this one pretty badly. Here’s to hoping they can even the series back up Thursday night in the Spectrum Center.