The Charlotte Hornets must effectively defend the paint to have success against the Memphis Grizzlies Wednesday night.
The Charlotte Hornets have done relatively well recently on defending the painted area but there is a big emphasis Wednesday night as Jonas Valanciunas continues to have a great season at center for the Memphis Grizzlies. He has averaged 16 points and11 rebounds on 55% shooting playing 27 minutes per game.
He had a superb game Monday night against the Toronto Raptors with 27 points and 20 rebounds, getting whatever he wanted on the interior. Cody Zeller has had his hands full in recent games matching up with elite centers such as Joel Embiid, Rudy Gobert, and Bam Adebayo, but he will need to bring it once more against Valanciunas.
Ja Morant has not solidified himself yet as a consistent shooter, so he tends to drive the ball to the cup this year like he did his rookie year so the Hornets need to make sure that they contain his drives and refrain from committing fouls.