Charlotte Hornets head to Milwaukee to take on the Bucks

The Charlotte Hornets face the unenviable task of having to face the Milwaukee Bucks on the road just a day after playing at home.

The Charlotte Hornets will face a tough test tonight.

Back-to-back games are a tough, but inevitable scenario in the NBA. Every team goes through them, but they’re especially rough when they include a road game immediately after a home game. It’s hard to get your bearings in the quick turnaround while traveling.

The Charlotte Hornets (30-35) are currently in that predicament. They have had ten back-to-backs so far this season. As far as the second game in those scenarios goes, the Hornets are 4-6, so they’re not doing terribly, but with the next game coming against the Eastern Conference-leading Milwaukee Bucks (49-16), that record may get worse.

It’s always best to stay optimistic, however, and oddly enough, Charlotte has had success against Milwaukee in back-to-backs, getting a win at home over the Bucks directly after playing the Atlanta Hawks the day before.  Perhaps lightning can strike twice.

Charlotte’s last game was a 112-111 victory over the Washington Wizards. They are 10th in the Eastern Conference. Milwaukee’s last contest was a 117-98 win over the Indiana Pacers. They are 1st in the East. This is the final game against the Bucks this season.

Charlotte Hornets at Milwaukee Bucks
9:00 p.m. EST, Saturday, March 9th, 2019
Fiserv Forum
Fox Sports Southeast

Stream: Fubo.tv 

Injury Report:

CHA:

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist – Knee (Probable)

Jeremy Lamb – Hamstring (Probable)

MIL:

Sterling Brown – Wrist (Out)

George Hill – Groin (Out)

Things to watch for:

You may think that Milwaukee has dominated the Hornets this season. Yet, the combined margin of victory when the Bucks have won is only 10 points, including a narrow 1 point defeat to Milwaukee on opening night.

In their sole win in the series thus far, Charlotte won by 3, so the series has been competitive. One could assume that this just means Charlotte is due to get blown out by Milwaukee, but you never know.

Keys to the game:

It’s easy to assume that a powerhouse team like the Bucks has no real weaknesses, but one area they do struggle in is three-point shooting, where they rank just 18th in the league in terms of percentage.

That’s just one spot behind of the Hornets. Charlotte cannot afford to let the Bucks get hot from behind the arc.

Another area the Bucks aren’t very proficient in is on the offensive boards, ranking just 24th in the Association. This is partly due to how well Milwaukee shoots the ball, making 48% of their shots, good for 5th in the NBA. The Hornets should try to establish position under the basket, especially if the Bucks get cold.

Charlotte has proven they can hang with the Bucks, with each game in the series being close. We’ll see if they can do that one more time and hopefully leave Milwaukee with their second straight win.