By Sam Perley, hornets.com
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These games can be seen on FOX Sports Southeast and can be heard on WFNZ or the Official Charlotte Hornets app.
Key Matchup vs. Hawks: Nicolas Batum vs. Kyle Korver
One of the marquee names in Charlotte’s offseason roster moves, Nicolas Batum will look to get his Hornets career off to a strong start by getting a chance to guard arguably the NBA’s best perimeter shooter in Atlanta’s Kyle Korver in consecutive games this weekend against the Hawks… Batum averaged 13.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in 24.4 minutes over six games for the Hornets this preseason, the first two averages of which were higher that his averages all of last season in Portland (33.5 minutes per game). With Michael Kidd-Gilchrist done for the year with a season-ending shoulder injury, expect Batum to rotate between both the small forward and shooting guard positions, the later of which should have him matched up with veteran sharpshooter, Kyle Korver, who is fresh off his first All-Star appearance last season… Korver shot a staggering 49.2 percent from beyond the arc last year, which was ranked first overall in the NBA amongst players with at least 150 attempts. His 3-point percentage last year was the ninth-best ever in a single NBA season (Korver also owns the overall record of 53.6 percent set during the 2009-10 season with Utah)… Charlotte, who ranked last in the NBA last season in three-point percentage (31.8 percent), can unlikely afford to get into a shootout with the Hawks, who finished the season as the second-best team from behind the arch (38.0 percent). Containing and shutting down Korver would be a great first step for the Hornets looking to pull a couple of early-season upset wins over the reigning Eastern Conference regular season champions.
Scouting the Hornets:
Charlotte finished the 2015 preseason with a franchise-best 7-1 record… Al Jefferson tallied 11.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 24.1 minutes over six preseason games for the Hornets… Kemba Walker scored in double figures in six of seven preseason games, averaging 13.4 points on 44.9 percent shooting and 3.3 assists… Nicolas Batum scored in double figures in five of his six preseason games (13.0 points)… Jeremy Lin averaged a team-high 15.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists in just 25.2 minutes in six preseason games… Cody Zeller played all eight preseason games for Charlotte, averaging 7.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 22.1 minutes… Marvin Williams played 21.4 minutes across seven preseason games while averaging 6.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists… Tyler Hansbrough averaged 10.0 rebounds in the preseason, which was second-highest of any player in the NBA with a minimum of four games played… rookie Frank Kaminsky scored a preseason-high 19 points in Charlotte’s 98-86 loss to Indiana on Oct. 22… Spencer Hawes put together averages of 6.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 18.9 minutes across six preseason games for the Hornets… Charlotte averaged 48.1 rebounds a game in the preseason, which was ranked sixth overall in the NBA. The Hornets were ranked first overall in defensive rebounds (40.8)… Charlotte had the second-fewest turnovers of any team in the preseason (13.8)… Charlotte shot 36.1 percent from three-point range this preseason, which was tied with Golden State for the sixth-best percentage from behind the arc of any team in the NBA… the Hornets allowed just 8.5 offensive rebounds in the preseason, which was tied for the second-fewest in the league.
Scouting the Hawks:
Charlotte and Atlanta split the season series last season, 2-2, with the home team going undefeated in all four games… Jeff Teague averaged 10.8 points and 4.0 assists in 24.8 minutes across five preseason games… Al Horford tallied 11.5 points, 6.8 rebound and 1.2 blocks in 23.5 minutes over six preseason games… Kyle Korver posted averages of 8.0 points (34.8 percent shooting from three-point range) and 3.3 rebounds in 21.0 minutes over six preseason games for the Hawks… Paul Millsap averaged 10.4 points and 8.0 rebounds in 24.4 minutes over five preseason games… Kent Bazemore also played in five preseason games for Atlanta, averaging 10.4 points and 3.6 points in 22.4 minutes. Bazemore could open the year as Atlanta’s starting small forward with Thabo Sefolosha still recovering from a broken leg he suffered in an altercation with the New York Police Department outside a Manhattan nightclub on Apr. 8 that cost him the rest of the 2014-15 NBA season… Atlanta shot a NBA-best 80.6 percent from the free-throw line during the preseason… The Hawks averaged 38.7 defensive rebounds a game in the preseason, which was ranked second only to Charlotte… Atlanta held its opponents to just 39.3 percent shooting from the field in the preseason, which was the third-best mark of any team in the league… Atlanta lost DeMarre Carroll in the offseason, who signed with the Toronto Raptors… Atlanta acquired Tim Hardaway, Jr. in a offseason trade with the New York Knicks in exchange for the draft rights to Jerian Grant… the Hawks also sent the draft rights to Georgios Printezis and a future second-round pick to the San Antonio Spurs for Tiago Splitter… Walter Tavares joined the team in the offseason after being drafted in the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft. The 7’3” center out of Cape Verde played last season with CB Gran Canaria in Spain’s Liga ACB… Justin Holiday signed with the Hawks in the offseason after spending last year with the Golden State Warriors… Marvin Williams played for the Hawks from 2005-12… Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap played together on the Utah Jazz from 2010-13… Jeremy Lamb and Thabo Sefolosha were teammates on the Oklahoma City Thunder from 2012-14.