The Charlotte Hornets are looking to sweep their third back-to-back set of the season as they square off against the Cleveland Cavaliers beginning tonight at 7 PM EST at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Utilizing another balanced attack, the Hornets knocked off the Sacramento Kings, 110-102, on Tuesday night for their fourth win in five outings. Malik Monk sparked the victory with a season-high 23 points and a career-high 10 rebounds, leading a Charlotte squad that lately continues to make substantial strides on the rebounding and defensive fronts.
“Our defense is picking up,” said Head Coach James Borrego after the victory. “Just proud of our guys. They locked in to that end of the floor, they really bought in and they understand that our best offense is going to be off of stops. We just feel bigger, stronger out there [starting Cody Zeller and Bismack Biyombo]. They’re both great rebounders, they both play extremely hard, give those two a lot of credit.”
Zeller (14.2 PPG and 9.4 RPG over his last five games) and Biyombo (10.0 PPG and 11.8 RPG) have been vital to Charlotte’s recent success on the boards. Over the past five outings, the Hornets have recorded an average rebounding differential of +7.2 against their opponents.
Cleveland has won just two of its last 18 outings after starting the season 4-5, currently ranking 26th in offensive rating (104.4), 28th in defensive rating (114.8) and last in net rating (-10.0). Second-year guard Collin Sexton is averaging a team-high 17.7 PPG on 44.6% shooting and big men Kevin Love (15.9 PPG and 10.6 RPG) and Tristan Thompson (13.3 PPG and 9.7 RPG) are almost both averaging a double-double.
One area the Cavaliers do excel at is offensive rebounding (fifth-best percentage in NBA; 28.5%), with Thompson (4.0), Larry Nance Jr. (1.8), John Henson, Love (1.0) and Sexton (1.0) all tallying at least one offensive board a game. The Hornets will need to crash the glass again on both ends and limit Cleveland’s second-chance scoring opportunities in order to snag another victory.
Game Notes: The Hornets went 3-1 against the Cavaliers last season… Cleveland has dropped all but one of its last 11 home games (beat Portland, 110-104, on Saturday, Nov. 23).