How the Charlotte Hornets compare to each NBA team in 2019-20

Charlotte Hornets James Borrego (Photo by Kent Smith/NBAE via Getty Images)
Charlotte Hornets James Borrego (Photo by Kent Smith/NBAE via Getty Images)
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Charlotte Hornets
Charlotte Hornets Willy Hernangomez (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)

Toronto Raptors

  • ’18-19 Record: 58-24
  • ’18-19 Season Series: 2-1
  • ’19-20 Advantage: Raptors.

The Charlotte Hornets beat the Toronto Raptors twice last season, with those two wins coming off the heroics of Jeremy Lamb. He hit a half-court heave to stun the Raptors in Toronto, and followed it up with a game-winning three-pointer in Charlotte to beat the eventual NBA Champions.

For a little while, Jeremy Lamb was known as the Raptors killer.

Good times, right? Lamb won’t be around to save the Hornets this year, unfortunately. The Raptors, who are fresh off a championship, lost Kawhi Leonard in free agency, but still have a roster in place that will contend for a playoff spot.

They aren’t going to win it all again, but they are a respectable, lower-seed playoff team without Leonard. The big thing for them is the continued improvement of Pascal Siakam, who I thought should have been an All-Star last season. They’ll be an interesting team to track this season.

The Raptors get the nod here over the Hornets. I think the Hornets have what it takes to win a game or two, but that’s it.