The Charlotte Hornets will look to rebound from a tough homestand-opening loss on Monday evening as they close out their season series with the Golden State Warriors beginning tonight at 7 PM EST at Spectrum Center.
After falling behind by 20 at halftime, the Hornets rallied to take a 104-97 lead over Phoenix with 1:11 remaining two nights ago, but the Suns responded with a late 12-0 run to steal away the win. Although the finish will be what resonates the most, Head Coach James Borrego stressed the reoccurring poor starts to games can’t continue being habitual.
“We’re not starting games in the first half or first quarter with the right presence, urgency and competitiveness,” he said after the loss. “At some point, in a 48-minute game, we get there. Unfortunately, it takes us to halftime or being down 15 or 10 to get ourselves going. It’s something we’ll have to keep addressing, keep talking about and I’ll continue to search out the answers for that. It’s something that we’re addressing and will keep working on.”
Charlotte knocked off Golden State, 93-87, at Chase Center back on Nov. 2, getting a career-high 25 points from Dwayne Bacon and another 20 points and seven assists from Terry Rozier. The Hornets withstood Warriors rookie F Eric Paschall’s 25 points and a 5-of-29 performance from deep (17.2%) by taking advantage of a season-high 16 offensive rebounds and just 13 turnovers.
An injury-riddled Golden State squad enters with an NBA-worst 4-18 record, ranking 27th in offensive rating (103.8), 28th in defensive rating (113.7) and last in net rating (-10.0). Paschall ranks second in rookie scoring (17.3 PPG), with SG Alec Burks (17.0 PPG over last 8 GS) and C Willie Cauley-Stein (7.5 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 1.1 SPG and 1.2 BPG) also playing quite well this year.
Golden State is allowing an NBA-high 39.5% opposing three-point percentage and the sixth-most paint points per game (50.6). Plenty of dribble penetration and around-the-arc ball movement should be in store for the Hornets tonight as they look to make it a season sweep of the visiting Warriors.
Game Notes: G Steph Curry (left hand fracture) is still out for Golden State and G Damion Lee (right hand fracture) is not expected to play. G D’Angelo Russell has missed nine straight games (right thumb sprain), but is projected to return sometime during the team’s five-game road trip… Charlotte has not swept the Warriors in a season series since 2013-14.