Charlotte Hornets look to bounce back on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies

After a devastating loss to the Indiana Pacers, the Charlotte Hornets continue their three-game road trip with a visit to Memphis to battle the Grizzlies.

Blowouts are a fact of life in sports, especially on the road. What’s important is how a team responds to said blowout. Do they let it demoralize them or do they learn from it and move on? Hornets fans are certainly hoping for the latter when the Charlotte Hornets (22-24) take on the Memphis Grizzlies (19-28) on the road Wednesday night.

Some might think of this as a “trap game,” meaning the Hornets might overlook the Grizzlies. It’d be best to avoid that, however, as Memphis is due for a win, having lost six in a row. What better way to end that losing streak by facing a team that has only won six games on the road themselves, and is coming off a blowout loss?

I don’t mean to make things seem dire, of course, but this is the perfect opportunity for the Hornets to improve their rather woeful road record and it would be best if they didn’t squander it. They have a history of losing to teams with worse records this season, however, so it’s best not to assume that this one is in the bag.

Charlotte’s last game was a 95-120 loss to the Indiana Pacers. They are in the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference. Memphis’ last game was an 85-105 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. They are 14th in the West. This is the Hornets’ first of two games against the Grizzlies.

Charlotte Hornets at Memphis Grizzlies
8:00 p.m. EST, Wednesday, January 23rd, 2019
FedEx Forum
Fox Sports Southeast

Injury Report:

CHA:

Cody Zeller – Hand (Out)

MEM:

Garrett Temple – Heel (Game-Time Decision)

Marc Gasol – Back (Game-Time Decision)

Joakim Noah – Personal (Game-Time Decision)

Dillon Brooks – Toe (Out)

Kyle Anderson – Ankle (Out)

Things to watch for:

The Grizzlies seem to have been bitten by the injury bug, but they may get some key players back for this one. Memphis ranks near or at the bottom in most statistical categories, but they do a decent job of protecting the rim, ranking 4th in the NBA in blocks per game.

There’s not much you can really glean from that, but it would benefit Charlotte to take care around the rim. The Hornets should be well-rested after having two days off, but hopefully, that doesn’t result in being rusty at the start.

Keys to the game:

Don’t make the same mistakes you made in Indiana. Allowing a team to shoot 52% from three isn’t going to win you many games. Granted, the Grizzlies aren’t the Pacers, but all it takes is one great shooting night.

They’ll also need to act like this is a game they can win. Often, the Hornets will play down to their competition and let an inferior team defeat them. They need to come out swinging and play like a team competing for a playoff spot.

There are no guaranteed wins in sports, especially away from home. This is one the Hornets can win if they play like the team fans all know they can be. We’ll see if they can leave Memphis with a win on Wednesday night.