After seeing their win streak get snapped by the Toronto Raptors, the Cleveland Cavaliers cross borders to pay the surging Charlotte Hornets a visit. The Hornets have been on a rise of late, winning all of their last four games, including a demolition job of an Eastern Conference contender, the Washington Wizards. Will the Cavs bounce back against Kemba Walker and the Hornets? Or will Charlotte take down another giant in the conference?
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[sc:NBA240banner ]Despite some torrid outside shooting from Kevin Love and company, the Cavaliers failed to extend their win streak to four games, as they lost to Toronto on Wednesday, 103-99. With the loss, the Cavs now enter tonight’s matchup with Charlotte at 3-1 SU and ATS records over their last four games.
Love is simply shooting like the basket’s as big as the Atlantic Ocean these days, as he’s drained 13 threes over the last three games, including six against Toronto on his way to 21 points and 13 rebounds. With Love shooting the ball well, expect him to draw Charlotte’s big men outside the paint, and open up driving lanes for LeBron James and others.
Love, however, is just part of Cleveland’s offense that is going bonkers from three-point region. The Cavaliers went 14-for-29 from beyond the arc against Toronto and have buried at least 11 threes in seven of their previous eight contests. In addition, the Cavs are second in the league with 10.5 three-pointers per game. It should be a headache for Charlotte to keep the Cavs’ bevy of floor-spacing players in check later tonight.
James, who scored 24 points and added six boards and eight assists in the loss to Toronto, is still king of the Cavs’ offense, though. James leads the team with 25.7 points per game, while Love is right behind him with 19.5 PPG.
Cleveland has been struggling on the road this season, as the Cavs are just 3-4 (2-5 ATS) on the road. If the Cavs are to make that record go up to .500, they’ll need their defense to clamp down on the high-scoring Hornets team. Cleveland is seventh in the league in scoring defense with 97.5 PPG allowed.
Unlike in previous seasons, today’s version of the Hornets can sting. Case in point: Charlotte’s current four-game win streak. In their latest outing, the Hornets laid waste to John Wall and the Wizards, as they beat Washington on Wednesday in lopsided fashion, 101-87.
Charlotte’s offense has been through the roof thus far this season, and it was evident in the Wizards game, wherein the Hornets shot 47 percent from the field (39-for-83). It was a balanced attack by Charlotte, which had six players scoring in double figures with Jeremy Lamb pacing the team with 18 points off the bench.
Charlotte’s relievers have been the Hornets’ best kept secret this season, as the team’s bench is fifth in the league with 39.4 PPG average. Lamb is certainly a big part of Charlotte’s second unit with the former UConn Huskie contributing 12.9 PPG. Charlotte will look for its bench to make a difference later tonight, considering that the Cavs’ backups are producing just 27.3 PPG.
As for the starters, Al Jefferson (14.7 PPG, 6.7 RPG) is in line to have a better game later tonight after scoring just 14 points against Washington and 10 versus Sacramento. Big Al had a hard time operating inside with the likes of DeMarcus Cousins and Marcin Gortat in those games, but with Timofey Mozgov out with an injury, the Hornets’ center could carve his way through Cleveland’s defense that allowed Toronto to score 52 points in the paint.
Charlotte is 3-0 ATS in its last three home games.
