Game Preview: Struggling Charlotte Hornets aim to end skid against Orlando Magic
After a terrible loss on Saturday night, the Charlotte Hornets seek to get back on track at home against the Orlando Magic.
The Charlotte Hornets (16-33) take on the Orlando Magic (21-28) at the Spectrum Center looking to snap a two-game skid. Charlotte is just 1-9 over their past ten games and will look to change the script when they welcome Orlando to town. So far, these southeast division rivals have faced off just once, with the Magic dominating 83-106.
Charlotte is coming off a loss vs. the San Antonio Spurs over the weekend, 114-90. There were some bright spots in this one for the Hornets, as they were up 63-50 at halftime, but only scored 11 & 16 in the 3rd & 4th quarters. Miles Bridges had his 2nd straight 20+ point game, as he finished with 25, and hopefully can use this momentum to push the Hornets to a badly needed victory.
The Magic have lost five straight, and they sit 12.5 back of Miami Heat in the division and hold the 8th spot in the eastern conference. Orlando leads the NBA in points allowed just 104.7 ppg. The Magic also ranks 5th in the association in blocks with 5.8 per contest.
Nikola Vucevic leads the team with 18.7 ppg & 11.0 rebounds to go along with it. Evan Fournier is also having a solid year averaging 18.6 ppg, but he’s coming into this one after just a 3-13 shooting performance in their loss to Miami on Saturday. He is listed as questionable with a back issue.
Charlotte Hornets vs Orlando Magic
7:00 p.m. EST, Monday, February 3rd, 2020
Spectrum Center
Fox Sports Southeast
Stream: Fubo.tv
Injury Report:
CHA:
P.J. Washington – Doubtful (ankle)
ORL:
Jonathan Isaac – Out (knee)
Al-Farouq Aminu – Out (knee)
D.J. Augustin – Out (knee)
Evan Fournier – Questionable (back)
Well Hornets fans, if you’re like me, then you enjoy winning. Let’s get back to doing just that against Orlando. Charlotte faces a tough stretch this week after the Magic, as they head to Houston Rockets on Tuesday, & face the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday.
dark. Next. What do you do with Malik Monk?
As we’ve hit February, each game becomes that much more important. The Hornets are 5.0 games out of a playoff spot, so it will be critical to beat teams ahead of them, such as Orlando, if they want to reach the playoffs for the 1st time since 2015-2016.