Charlotte Hornets seek third straight win as they host the Indiana Pacers

After a gutsy win over a contending Dallas Mavericks team on the road, the Charlotte Hornets return home, looking to defeat the Indiana Pacers.

Wins against the better teams in the NBA have been few and far between this season for the Charlotte Hornets (15-23). They sport just two wins against teams with a record over .500. A lot of people expected that to be the case, but they pulled off the seemingly impossible Saturday night in Dallas, toppling the Mavericks in dramatic fashion.

Their other win over a team with a winning record? The Indiana Pacers (22-14), who will coincidentally be their next opponent. That win came all the way back on November 5th in Charlotte. Indiana has since gotten revenge against the Hornets, beating them in Indy back on December 15th.

That loss came primarily due to poor shooting, with the Hornets making just 31% of their shots and a measly 16% from behind the arc. You’re not going to win many games with an output like that. Of course, this game will be at home, so maybe the Hornets can avoid that.

As touched on before, Charlotte’s last game was a 123-120 overtime win over the Dallas Mavericks. They are in the 9th spot in the Eastern Conference. Indiana’s last contest was a 116-111 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. They are 6th in the East. This is the third of four meetings between these two teams.

 Charlotte Hornets vs Indiana Pacers
7:00 p.m. EST, Tuesday, January 6th, 2020
Spectrum Center
Fox Sports Southeast

Stream: Fubo.tv

Injury Report:

CHA: 

None

IND:

Malcolm Brogdon – Back (Out)

T.J. McConnell – Ankle (Questionable)

Naz Mitrou-Long – Ankle (Out)

Victor Oladipo – Knee (Out)

Things to watch for:

Another game where Charlotte will face a team with some big names out with injuries. If there was an opportune time to take down the Pacers, this is when to do it, especially given Charlotte’s lack of injuries. It’s unfortunate for the Pacers, of course, but the Hornets can’t really help that.

Speaking of those two wins over teams with winning records, both of those games went into overtime and have nearly the same score, with the difference being just one point. That doesn’t really have any bearing on this game, but it’s a funny turn of events.

Keys to the game:

The Pacers have the 4th highest three-point field goal percentage in the NBA. They attempt the 2nd fewest, however, so there’s a bit of relief. Still, it wouldn’t be a good idea to let them take open shots from behind the arc. As always, stay with your assignment and avoid letting them get open.

As far as their three-point defense, the Pacers are pretty good, ranking 5th in opponent three-point field goal percentage. As I mentioned before, they did their job back in the last game, so taking good looks from the floor in any fashion should be a priority. Try to make the extra pass to set up open shooters and run quality screens.

The Hornets have a good shot at snagging their third win over a winning team this season. If they can shoot the ball well and keep Indiana cold, then they’ll walk out of this with a dub. We’ll see what they can do Monday night in the Queen City.