Bug Bite
The Wine & Gold wrap up a three-game homestand on Wednesday night – welcoming LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier and the high-scoring Hornets to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
After snapping a three-game skid with a Saturday night win over Washington, the Cavaliers (36-25) dropped a wild one on Monday – nearly overcoming a 23-point second-half deficit, tying the game in the final minute before Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns drilled a triple with 12 seconds to play to halt Cleveland’s home win streak at eight.
The slumping Hornets (30-33) come to town having dropped 11 of their past 13 outings, including a 24-point beating on Monday night in Milwaukee. Three of Charlotte’s last five losses have been in either overtime or double-OT.
In Monday’s thriller, the Cavaliers ran out to a 14-2 edge, but turnovers began catching up to them in the second quarter and the Timberwolves’ 29-9 run to start the second half put them distinctly behind the 8-ball for the rest of the night.
The Cavs were again without the services of Darius Garland (sore lower back), Caris LeVert (sprained right foot) and Rajon Rondo (sprained right big toe). But Brandon Goodwin came up big in his absence, doubling up with 17 points and a career-best 12 assists.
Cleveland’s bench also combined for 53 points – led by Kevin Love, who finished with a game-high 26 points along with Cedi Osman, who followed up with 21 points of his own.
Jarrett Allen followed up with 21 points, going 9-for-10 from the floor, adding eight boards and Evan Mobley doubled-up for the 15th time this season, finishing with 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, going 6-for-12 from the floor and leading Cleveland with a pair of blocks.
The Hornets come into the contest with the league’s highest-scoring offense, and that hasn’t been a problem during their recent skein. They’ve just struggled to stop anyone.
In Monday night’s road drubbing, LaMelo Ball led Charlotte with 24 points, but the Bucks featured three starters with 20-points-plus as the Hornets dropped to the East’s 9th-seed with the loss.
The Cavaliers get back on the road after tonight’s contest – traveling to Philadelphia for a Friday night matchup against Joel Embiid, James Harden and the red-hot Sixers. Cleveland returns home for a Sunday night matchup with the Raptors before embarking on their longest remaining trip of the season next week – with stops in Indiana, Miami and Chicago on the slate.
History
If tonight’s contest is anything like the meeting these two had back in early February, it’s going to be another crazy night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. After an oddly-officiated fourth quarter, and the most bizarre four-point play you’ll ever see, Kevin Love sealed the Cavs win with a pair of free throws with 1.2 remaining.
The Hornets took this year’s home opener in Cleveland, but the Wine and Gold have taken each of the last two in Charlotte and look to win the season series with a victory on Wednesday.
The Cavs also lead the all-time series, 71-47, including a 45-12 mark in Cleveland. During a stretch dating from January 2000 to November 2018, the Wine and Gold went 25-4 at home against Charlotte, with winning streaks of eight and 10 games in that span.
The all-time single-game assists leader against Charlotte is the great Andre Miller, who handed out 16 helpers in a 2002 loss. Charlotte’s all-time leader is Brevin Knight – who was drafted by the Cavaliers with the 16th overall pick in 1997 – and distributed 20 dimes in a loss to his former squad back in 2005.
Connections
Hornets guard Terry Rozier was born in Youngstown and played his high school ball for Shaker Heights High School – averaging 25.6ppg as a senior while leading the Red Raiders to the state’s regional finals for the first time since 2002.
J.B. Bickerstaff was an assistant coach under his father, Bernie Bickerstaff, when pro hoops returned to Charlotte in 2004 in the form of the Bobcats. The team struggled in 2004-05, but won eight more games the following year and seven more in 2006-07.