After losing their three-game winning streak, the Charlotte Hornets will look to even the season series against the Indiana Pacers.
Coming off a recent loss on Saturday night, the Charlotte Hornets (19-37) will face the Indiana Pacers (33-24) on the road. This game will be the season’s last matchup between the two teams, and the first game of a back-to-back for the Hornets.
The Hornets have lost their last two against the Pacers after winning the first game in an overtime thriller in November. The Hornets lost the last game to them on January 6th, 115-104, after falling apart in the second half of that game.
The Hornets’ last game ended as a 115-86 loss to the Brooklyn Nets at home, while the Pacers’ last game resulted in a 127-81 blowout loss on the road to the Toronto Raptors.
Charlotte Hornets at Indiana Pacers
7:00 p.m. EST, Tuesday, February 25th, 2020
Bankers Life Fieldhouse
Fox Sports Southeast
Stream: Fubo.tv
Injury Report:
CHA:
None
IND:
Jeremy Lamb – ACL (Out)
Things to watch for:
The Hornets did not play well in Saturday’s loss to the Nets; they did not look like the team that won three-straight games. The Hornets have primarily played better on the toad this season, as their road record is 11-19.
The last time that Charlotte played on the road against the Pacers, they did not play well. The team was without PJ Washington, and they had Bismack Biyombo and Cody Zeller starting in the frontcourt.
This game will be different than the last three matchups, as Victor Oladipo will be playing against the Hornets for the first time this season. Oladipo should see more playing time following the season-ending ACL tear that Jeremy Lamb suffered on Sunday.
Devonte’ Graham has also not been playing well as of late, so he could look to get back into his groove in this game. So far this season, Graham has averaged 13.8 points and 3.2 assists per game against the Pacers.
Keys to the game:
The Hornets need to start this game fast and force the Pacers to make mistakes. In doing this, Charlotte must find a way to keep the ball out of TJ Warren’s hands; he scored 36 points against the Hornets in January.
Interior defense will also be a major factor in this game because of the talent that Indiana has in the frontcourt. While the defense is important, the Hornets must make sure they win the rebound battle.
If the Charlotte Hornets win this game, they will move to the 10th spot in the Eastern Conference, while losing will keep them idle at the 11th spot. Following this game, the Hornets will have to come straight home to play the New York Knicks on Wednesday night.