While the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets collide for the final time this season at Toyota Center, another regular-season finale is also taking place at Quicken Loans Arena between the Charlotte Hornets and Cleveland Cavaliers.
A win for either the Hornets or Cavaliers will have major playoff implications, so these two Eastern Conference rivals still have lots to play for. Read on below for a closer look at this promising matchup.
The Charlotte Hornets are buzzing right now, and the timing couldn’t be any better with the playoffs lurking around the corner.
[sc:NBA250 ]The Hornets, who clinched a spot in the postseason thanks to Chicago’s loss to the Pistons yesterday, head into this showdown having won five of their previous six games as well as their last three in a row. The latest one happened in a second game of a home-and-home series with the lowly 76ers Friday night. Kemba Walker took charge with game-highs of 27 points and 11 boards to give the Hornets the 100-91 victory.
Now, Walker and co. are going to test their mettle when they open a grueling three-game road trip that begins with a date with the East-leading Cleveland Cavaliers. The Hornets have lost two of the first three regular-season meetings and will most definitely be looking to get the final say with a win here.
Key to doing so will depend on their defense, which is only allowing 89.0 points in the past three contests. But no matter how solid Charlotte’s defense has been, stopping the likes of LeBron James or Kyrie Irving is no easy task. The two superstars are averaging 44.6 points and 11.3 assists combined.
Speaking of points though, the Hornets, who have managed to score 100 or more points in the past five contests, have enough weapons to match up with the Cavs.
There’s the pair of Nicolas Batum and Jeremy Lin who can both get hot when you least expect it. The two international stars are putting up 15.3 and 11.6 points, respectively. Batum, in particular, has been doing it all lately, tallying 21.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 9.0 dimes in the last three games.
Walker, meanwhile, should be able to continue making his presence known. He’s scoring a team-best 21.0 points along with 4.5 boards and 5.2 dimes overall this season. Walker also racked up a 20-point performance in the previous meeting with their conference rivals.
Charlotte is 7-3 SU and 6-4 ATS in its past 10 road games.
Despite holding a 21-point advantage in the first half of Friday night’s game with the Hawks, the Cleveland Cavaliers blew that lead and needed their King—LeBron James—to finally put the game away in the overtime period.
James was superb all throughout the match, as he piled up 29 points, 16 rebounds and nine dimes. He also passed another Hall of Famer (Oscar Robertson) in the league’s all-time scoring list, moving up to the 11th spot.
The Cavs now travel back to Quicken Loans Arena for an impending date with another conference rival in the form of the Charlotte Hornets. And you can bet that James, who is averaging 27.3 points, 7.6 rebounds and 6.9 assists across 40 career games in this matchup, will do everything he can once again to prevent them from losing.
Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love will definitely have that same mindset as well. The two are contributing almost 40 points combined this season and both have also scored in double-digits in their previous five games. But Irving’s shooting woes remains a concern, as he’s gone 29-of-92 from the flooring during that same stretch.
It’ll be interesting to see how well Irving and the rest of the Cavs will be able to execute their offense opposite a solid defensive team like the Hornets, who currently rank seventh in the NBA in scoring defense (100.5 PPG).
Cleveland is 5-5 SU and 4-6 ATS in its last 10 games versus Charlotte.
