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Hornets Look to Start Another Streak Against Warriors

With their four-game winning streak ending at the hands of the Lakers on Friday night, the Hornets will hope to get back on track with a tough road battle against the Golden State Warriors, which tips off tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Golden State took round one between the two sides, 121-110, back on Feb. 25. The Hornets got a career-high 28 points on 13-of-14 shooting from Cody Zeller (likely out for this game with left knee soreness), while Klay Thompson (26), DeMarcus Cousins (24) and Kevin Durant (20) all eclipsed the 20-point barrier for the Warriors.

Miles Bridges had a quiet seven points and five rebounds in this outing, but has looked like a completely different player in recent weeks. The rookie is averaging 14.8 PPG on 60.8% shooting, 6.6 RPG, 3.2 APG and 1.6 SPG over his last five appearances, while ranking first on the team in defensive rating (111.2 points allowed per 100 possessions; mini. 5 GP).

The former Michigan State Spartan will have a tall task (literally) in guarding the seven-foot former MVP in Durant, who currently sits eighth in the NBA in scoring (26.8 PPG). For whatever reason, Durant has struggled from three-point range this year (34.8% - lowest since his rookie season), but is still shooting a tidy 51.4% from the field and dishing out a career-high 5.7 APG.

‘Shutting down’ Durant on offense isn’t realistic, but having Bridges play steady defensive shifts on the two-time Finals MVP is certainly a manageable task. Factoring in the always dangerous three-point threats of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, the Hornets need to be much more mindful of the perimeter than they were in Los Angeles if they want to put another notch in the win column.

Game Note – The Hornets snapped a three-game losing streak at Oracle Arena with a 111-100 road win over the Warriors on Dec. 29, 2017… Golden State is 10-8 over 18 appearances since the All-Star Break. The team’s net rating during this stretch is 1.6, which is 11th-highest in the league… Charlotte has an offensive rating of 117.9 over its last five games, which is third-best in the NBA.

Classic Fact – The Hornets plucked center Dave Hoppen from the Golden State Warriors with their second selection in the 1988 NBA Expansion Draft, which came one pick after Dell Curry and one pick before Muggsy Bogues. Hoppen averaged 6.5 PPG and 5.0 RPG, while shooting a team-best 56.4 percent from the field over 77 games in the 1988-89 season.