A four-game Western Conference road trip is ending for the Charlotte Hornets as they look to conclude their journey on a positive note when they take on the New Orleans Pelicans starting tonight at 8 p.m. ET.
New Orleans knocked off the Hornets, 119-109, at Spectrum Center back on Dec. 2, getting 36 points, 19 rebounds, eight assists, two steals and two blocks from Anthony Davis. Frank Kaminsky led seven Charlotte players in double figures with 19 points, but the team couldn’t overcome the Pelicans shooting 51.2% from the field (44-of-86).
Kemba Walker is coming off a brilliant 47-point outing in Utah on Monday night, which tied his own franchise record for highest-scoring performance in a single road game. The three-time All-Star had 38 points in the second half (also an organizational best) and is now just one three-point field goal shy of breaking Jason Richardson’s single-season team record (243; 2007-08).
Walker will look to get things going early and often against Elfrid Payton, a Louisiana native in his first season with the Pelicans. The UL-Lafayette product averaged 11.3 PPG, 7.4 RPG and 8.3 APG last month, tallying five straight triple-doubles from March 10-18. Payton has struggled when not on offense though, ranking last on the team in defensive rating during this stretch (116.3).
New Orleans has lost 10 of its last 12 games, owning the NBA’s second-worst offensive rating (102.4) and fifth-worst defensive rating (114.5) over this stretch. With the Pelicans experimenting with a variety of different lineups and players at this point of the season, the Hornets need to take advantage of mismatches, particularly with Walker, in order to close their road trip on a winning note.
Game Note – Jrue Holiday (core muscle surgery) and E’Twaun Moore (quad) are out for New Orleans. Anthony Davis (back), Julius Randle (finger) Frank Jackson (concussion) and Darius Miller (thigh) are all dealing with injuries and their statuses are TBD as of Tuesday morning… The Hornets have lost six straight outings at the Smoothie King Center.
Classic Fact – Charlotte’s all-time leader in total rebounds (3,516) and double-double (180), Emeka Okafor, was traded to New Orleans on July 28, 2009 in exchange for Tyson Chandler. Okafor’s departure left Gerald Wallace as the last remaining Bobcat player from the organization’s expansion season in 2004-05.