Charlotte Hornets begin three-game road trip in Houston
The Charlotte Hornets are heading out on the road as they look to snap their current two-game losing streak against the Houston Rockets. Charlotte has dropped back-to-back home games to the Pistons and Nets, both by 12 points.
The Hornets and Rockets split their two meetings last year, with the road team winning each contest. The average score did favor Charlotte by a single point, as their 115.5 points per game was slightly better than Houston’s 114.5.
As expected, Charlotte struggled shooting the three ball in those matchups last year, making 22 of 77 attempts for a conversion rate of just 28.6%. While the Rockets held a slight advantage in the percentage made department (32.1%), it must be said that Houston attempted 53 threes in the two contests (24 less than Charlotte) and made five fewer.
Looking at this season, Charlotte’s point differential, while negative, is still much more favorable than Houston’s. The Hornets are scoring 112 points per game while giving up 118. Meanwhile, the Rockets’ offense has only managed to score 101 points and have allowed 116, leading to the NBA’s worst point differential (-15).
Charlotte’s leading scorer through the first three games has been Terry Rozier, and by a pretty decent margin. Rozier’s 22.3 points per game is just over 4.5 points higher than the next-highest average being P.J. Washington’s 17.7. Alperen Sengun leads the Rockets’ scoring effort with 19.3 points, while Jalen Green’s 17.7 is not that far off.
A win on Wednesday would bring Charlotte back to .500 on the year (2-2), a much more encouraging record than if they lost (1-4). The Hornets are not favored to win the contest but that does not mean winning is impossible. There is a very good chance Charlotte comes out on top, as long as a few things go their way.
Injuries
The Hornets will be without Cody Martin, James Bouknight, and Frank Ntilikina, the first two until at least November 4th and Ntilikina until at least November 20th. Houston is going to be without the services of Tari Eason (out until at least November 6th) and Victor Oladipo (out until at least November 17th). Of those injured, the only real impact player is Houston’s Oladipo.
After Houston
Following their first road game in Houston, Charlotte will head to Indiana and Dallas to take on the Packers and Mavericks on back-to-back nights (November 4th and 5th).
