On the heels of an exciting win over the Bucks on Monday night, the Hornets will be looking for back-to-back victories and some retaliation against the Atlanta Hawks, who they square off with tonight beginning at 7 p.m. ET.
These two squads are meeting for the third time already this season and second time in four days. After taking the first game at home on Nov. 6, the Hornets fell, 124-123, in Atlanta this past Sunday night. Defensive lapses played a huge role in this one as Charlotte allowed the NBA’s lowest-rated offense to shoot 53.2 percent from the field and dominate points in the paint, 58-28.
Tony Parker (ribs) sat out the loss, but returned on Monday and finished with 15 points and a team-high six assists in the team’s 110-107 win against Milwaukee. The steadiness he brought to the second unit in this contest – especially in the fourth quarter – was extremely noticeable and a major reason why the Hornets were able to escape with a much-needed, last-second victory.
The veteran guard will be assigned to former-Hornet, now-Hawk Jeremy Lin, who played just 37 games the previous two seasons because of injuries. The Harvard grad had a team-high 19 points in Charlotte three weeks ago and over his last three outings through Nov. 25, is averaging 19.0 points on 68.8 percent shooting, 5.3 assists and 1.3 steals off the bench.
Game Note – Hawks forward DeAndre’ Bembry is a native of Charlotte, NC and began his high school career at Rocky River in Mint Hill. He later transferred to St. Patrick High School in New Jersey, which is where Michael Kidd-Gilchrist graduated from in 2011.
Classic Fact – David Wesley had a postseason single-game-record five steals against the Atlanta Hawks in Game 4 of the 1998 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Wesley also had the first two playoff points-assists double-doubles in team history during this series as well.