Charlotte Hornets: Preview and things to watch against Toronto Raptors

The Charlotte Hornets fell at home to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday; the team will be looking to start a new streak on Thursday night.

The Charlotte Hornets lost in pitiful fashion on Wednesday night to the Dallas Mavericks, 104-93. The team failed to execute and made too many mistakes, which led to a loss at home and the end of their four-game winning streak.

The Hornets will look to start a new winning streak against the struggling Toronto Raptors. The Raptors have only won two games this season, so Charlotte will have a chance to make something happen.

Charlotte played the Raptors twice during the preseason, but the Hornets lost in both games after having sizable leads.

The Hornets will need a win here to get the loss from Wednesday night out of their heads and get back over the .500 mark.

Charlotte Hornets vs. Toronto Raptors
7:30 p.m. EST, Thursday, January 14th, 2021
Amalie Arena
Fox Sports Southeast

Stream: Fubto.tv

Injury Report:

CHA:

Cody Zeller – Hand (Out)

Gordon Hayward – Hip (Questionable)

TOR:

Patrick McCaw – Out (Knee)

Things to watch:

Gordon Hayward left Wednesday night’s game with a left hip strain. The Hornets kept him out for the remainder of the game, but it will be interesting to see if Charlotte plans on using him against this conference rival.

The Hornets shot poorly in Wednesday’s loss, so Charlotte needs to look for better shots on offense. Toronto is a beatable team, and Charlotte needs to find easy ways to score against their struggling defense.

Keys to the game:

This Raptors team is missing Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka. Both of these players played well for the Raptors last season, and Charlotte needs to take advantage of their absence by scoring easy buckets in the paint.

Pascal Siakam is a threat, and Charlotte needs to limit his scoring. Like Fred Vanvleet, Siakam can get hot fast, and he has the ability to score from anywhere on the court.

Finally, the Hornets need to continue their success in taking care of the basketball. Limiting turnovers will not allow this Raptors team to get out in transition to get easy buckets.

Charlotte got humbled in their loss to Dallas, but the team must get back on track against the Raptors.