Charlotte Hornets return home to face the Indiana Pacers

After a long road trip, the Charlotte Hornets come back home to take on the Indiana Pacers.

It feels like it’s been forever since the Charlotte Hornets (3-3) last played a game at home. In reality, it’s been a little over a week, but those long West Coast swings really do drag on. They were fairly successful on that road trip, winning two out of four, though those two wins were against inferior opponents.

So, now they’re back at home and will face off against the Indiana Pacers (3-3). Indiana took two of three last year against the Hornets, with Charlotte’s only win coming almost a full year ago back on November 21st.

Charlotte’s last game was a 93-87 win over the Golden State Warriors. They are currently 6th in the Eastern Conference. Indiana’s last outing was a 108-95 win over the Chicago Bulls. They are 7th in the East. This is the first of four matchups against the Pacers this season.

Charlotte Hornets vs Indiana Pacers
7:00 p.m. EST, Tuesday, November 5th, 2019
Spectrum Center
Fox Sports Southeast

Stream: Fubo.tv

Injury Report:

CHA:

Nicolas Batum – Finger (Out)

IND:

Myles Turner – Ankle (Game-Time Decision)

Domantas Sabonis – Calf (Game-Time Decision)

Edmond Summer – Hand (Out)

Victor Oladipo – Knee (Out)

Things to watch for:

This will be the first time the Hornets face their old teammate, Jeremy Lamb. Lamb was with the Hornets for four seasons before departing to Indiana. He’s averaging just under 17 points a game this year, so he’s certainly improved this year.

Charlotte hasn’t won the season series against the Pacers since the 2015-2016 season. Given all the injuries Indiana has, this could be a good chance to get started on the right path to winning it this year.

Keys to the game:

Indiana is only shooting 32% from deep this season, good enough for just 23rd in the NBA. Charlotte would do well to make sure to repeat that in this one by avoiding leaving shooters open. Charlotte has shot the ball well from behind the arc this season, so if they can continue that, it’s an area that should be a focus.

The Pacers do take good care of the basketball, giving up the 4th fewest amount of turnovers per game. The Hornets have had struggles generating steals, as they rank dead last in steals per game. They need to try and break up passing lanes and apply smart double teams to get the Pacers’ players to cough up the rock.

Few people had the Hornets at .500 this early in the season, but the teams they’ve beaten are all teams they should have beaten. A depleted Pacers squad is yet another one they should beat. We’ll see if they can come out victorious Tuesday night in Charlotte.