Charlotte Hornets seek victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves

Fresh off a thrilling narrow victory, the Charlotte Hornets hope to notch another win when the Minnesota Timberwolves come to town.

The Charlotte Hornets (1-0) certainly started the season off right with a win over the Chicago Bulls Wednesday night. Behind stellar three-point shooting, the Hornets were able to outlast the Bulls to begin the year on a perfect note.

They hope to duplicate that result against a Minnesota Timberwolves (1-0) team looking to get back to the playoffs after failing to do so last season. This is almost a must-win for the Hornets, as well, as they embark on a brutal road stretch that will match them up against some of the top teams in the Western Conference. So, it’s imperative that Charlotte snags a victory in this one, lest they get too far behind.

Again, Charlotte’s last contest was a 126-125 win over the Chicago Bulls. They are tied for 1st in the Eastern Conference. Minnesota’s last game was a 127-126 overtime victory over the Brooklyn Nets. They are tied for 1st in the West. This is the first of two meetings for these two teams.

Charlotte Hornets vs Minnesota Timberwolves
7:00 p.m. EST, Friday, October 25th, 2019
Spectrum Center
Fox Sports Southeast

Stream: Fubo.tv

Injury Report:

CHA:

Nicolas Batum – Finger (Out)

MIN:

None

Things to watch for:

These two teams have split the season series for the last three seasons. Prior to that, the Hornets had won five straight over Minnesota. Can Charlotte sweep them this season? That sure would be nice.

Cody Zeller missed practice on Thursday due to personal reasons, though no one is exactly sure why. Should he be unable to go, Willy Hernangomez would likely get the start. The frontcourt will have their hands full regardless of who plays due to Karl Anthony-Towns.

Keys to the game:

The Hornets will be facing another great rebounding team in this one, but most fans already knew that. Karl Anthony-Towns snagged 14 just by himself in their first game of the season, so containing him under the basket should be a priority. Perhaps his Kentucky Wildcat brother, P.J. Washington, can slow him down.

Another thing the Hornets need to focus on is taking better care of the basketball. Against the Bulls, they coughed the ball up 19 times. Thankfully, the Bulls only managed to score 13 points off of those turnovers, but that isn’t going to happen every game. Tighten it up on offense.

Charlotte barely scraped by with a win in their first game, but they’re not going be that hot from downtown every night, so they’ll need to get their act together before they head out West. We’ll see if they can do just that Friday night in the Spectrum Center.