After kicking off the 2024-25 season with a win over the Houston Rockets, the Charlotte Hornets are now losers of two straight games. They likely won't want to extend the streak, so the team should view its Tuesday matchup against the Toronto Raptors as a must-win contest.
There are several keys for the Hornets to overcome Toronto, including avoiding the plague of starting the game poorly, taking care of the ball, and not settling for low-quality shots.
It would also be ideal for the squad to find another reliable shot-creator besides LaMelo Ball. Unfortunately, Charlotte would need to be resourceful in that area, as Brandon Miller is set to miss the contest because of a strained left glute.
Hornets will face a shorthanded Raptors
Miller's injury has come at an unfortunate time because the Hornets are already without starting center Mark Williams, who has been out since training camp.
Charlotte, though, may have caught a break, with the injury bug also stinging the Raptors. The visitors would be without leading scorer Scottie Barnes. The 2022 Rookie of the Year got inadvertently elbowed in the eye by Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic on Monday while fighting for a rebound. He struggled to get up on his feet and had to sit out the remainder of the match.
Barnes has been having a stellar start to the campaign following his maiden All-Star season. He is currently averaging 19.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 2.0 steals per game. So, the Hornets would have had their hands full had the forward been healthy.
They still can't let their guards down, even as Toronto will additionally be missing Kelly Olynyk and Bruce Brown, and with Immanuel Quickley a possible late scratch.
Charlotte will still need to deal with RJ Barrett, who made his season debut against the Nuggets. The former New York Knicks star had been sidelined for the first three games of the regular season after a bout with a shoulder injury. He didn't appear to miss a beat, scoring 20 and sinking a couple of clutch shots in Toronto's overtime loss.
Hopefully, the Hornets can take advantage of a depleted Raptors crew and go up 2-2 in the standings before they embark on a tough four-night stretch that features a back-to-back battle with the Boston Celtics and a visit to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Celtics are currently one of the last three unbeaten franchises. The defending champions will face off against the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday, so it remains to be seen if they will be 5-0 or 4-1 when the first leg of the back-to-back set between Boston and Charlotte takes place.
Meanwhile, the Wolves may have had an uneven start to the campaign. But they are still a formidable foe and can potentially compete for a top seed in the West partly because of Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle, who was brought up as a potential trade target for the Hornets in the previous offseason.
It's plausible that Charlotte could go 0-3 in that stretch, so it would be better for the team to head into it following a win over the Raptors.