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Hornets Host Nets, Looking for 4th-Straight Victory

The Charlotte Hornets are riding a season-long-tying three-game winning streak and will look to make it four in a row when they face the Brooklyn Nets beginning tonight at 7 PM EST at Spectrum Center.

Charlotte opened its post-All-Star Break schedule with a 103-93 road triumph over the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night, getting a combined 47 points from Malik Monk (25) and Miles Bridges (22) in the process. The Bulls whittled a 21-point third-quarter deficit down to just two with about 14 minutes remaining, but the Hornets stayed composed and pulled away in the end.

“I’d say it was mature, resilient,” said Coach Borrego after Friday’s practice back in Charlotte. “You have to battle through the different adversities throughout an NBA game. It’s a long 48-minute game, but I thought the maturity showed in the fourth quarter. There was immaturity in the third quarter – we talked about it at halftime. I thought we responded maturely.”

Brooklyn leads the season series with Charlotte, 2-1, although squandered a 20-point lead at home in their most recent meeting back on Dec. 11 in route to a 113-108 loss. Devonte’ Graham scored a career-high 40 points (7-of-12 from three) and Bridges added another 14 points in what stands as the Hornets’ largest comeback victory of the campaign. Spencer Dinwiddie (24) and Jarrett Allen (21) each had 20-point outings for Brooklyn in the loss.

The Nets have won four of their last six outings, ranking 12th in the NBA in offensive rating (113.6) and a stingy second in defensive rating (102.9) during this stretch. Kyrie Irving hasn’t played since Feb. 1 (right shoulder impingement), so Caris LeVert (21.6 PPG; 47.1% from three), Dinwiddie (18.4 PPG and 7.6 APG) and Joe Harris (16.0 PPG; 43.9% from three) have all picked up the slack offensively across this aforementioned six-outing span.

Brooklyn ended up ruling Irving out for the season on Thursday afternoon, but the team actually has a better record without (17-17) the six-time All-Star this season then it does with him (8-12). Thanks to big bodies like Allen, Taurean Prince and DeAndre Jordan, the Nets sit second in the NBA in rebounding percentage (55.8%) across their 4-2 stretch, making the battle on the boards a critical one tonight in the season series finale.

Game Notes: Brooklyn has lost four of its last five road appearances, although the Hornets have dropped eight of their last nine games at Spectrum Center… A win tonight would mark Charlotte’s first four-game winning streak since April 3-9, 2019.