Continuing to spiral out of control are the Charlotte Hornets, who suffered their third-straight loss and 10th of their last 11 games to the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday, 105-99.
Starting forward Nic Batum guaranteed before the contest that the Hornets will prevail victorious over the Sixers, but that certainly wasn’t the case. Instead, Batum tallied 16 points on Monday on just 5-of-12 shooting, and with Philly having out-rebounded the fifth-best rebounding team in the league, 51-33.
Sure, Kemba Walker (29 points, seven boards) and Frank Kaminsky (12-point, 11-rebound double-double) had nice evenings, but Charlotte’s lack of a real presence in the post was its biggest flaw once more. Recently-acquired Miles Plumlee played just nine minutes before straining his right calf in the second half, but it’s not as if his involvement has mattered tremendously. Plumlee has registered no more than four points in each of the five games he’s played as a Hornet.
Apparently, the real big man that Charlotte desperately needs back is Cody Zeller. The third-year center missed his eighth game over the last nine with a quad contusion, sending his team to a dismal 2-10 record without him in the lineup.
Regardless of whether Zeller returns to action or not, we don’t expect the Hornets to break out of their funk in this Wednesday’s trip up north. They’ve lost three straight road games against the Raptors and six of their last eight trips to Air Canada Centre overall (4-4 ATS).
In a relatively bad slump as well are the Toronto Raptors, who lost for the third-consecutive game with a 105-94 defeat to the Bulls in Chicago on Tuesday, 105-94.
Toronto’s usual game plan of feeding the ball to either Kyle Lowry or DeMar DeRozan didn’t work like magic that night as the two combined for just 40 points. DeRozan, particularly, scored just 18 points – 10 points below his season average – before receiving his second technical foul and being ejected from the game with less than a minute left in the contest.
Simply put, the Raptors are not getting looks from the floor when their two best stars are simultaneously having off nights. They shot just 5-for-20 from beyond the arc against the Bulls as a team and only mustered up 15 assists the entire game.
However, help is on its way in Toronto: the team made a deal that same day to acquire Serge Ibaka from the Orlando Magic, and having him start as early as this Wednesday against Charlotte should help the Raptors get back on the right track. Ibaka allows the Raptors to space their offense better with his sound perimeter shooting for a power forward, and with Lowry and DeRozan continuing to attack straight to the hoop with more reckless abandon.
Having said that, Toronto’s ball movement should see a significant improvement with Ibaka on board. Mind you that the team has been unable to fully maximize its prolific scoring prowess being the second-to-the-worst in the NBA in assists per contest (18.7). A mediocre 6-4 home record of late (5-5 ATS) is bound to change as well, and Wednesday’s game versus the Hornets could very well signal that start of a new upswing again for Canada’s lone basketball franchise.
Writer’s Prediction
The Raptors don’t gel instantly with Ibaka in the starting lineup, but still escape with a 111-107 victory. In turn, the Hornets (+6.5) still manage to cover the spread.
