**What:** Charlotte Hornets (26-30) (12-15 home) vs Cleveland Cavaliers (35-21) (16-10 away)
**When:** 7:00pm Eastern
**Where:** Spectrum Center; Charlotte, NC
**How to watch:** FanDuel Sports Network, NBA League Pass
**Outfitting:** Hornets–City (yellow/orange), Cavaliers–City (black)
**Game Lines:** Hornets +6.5, Hornets money line +185, O/U 232.5
The Hornets are coming off a loss to the Rockets where their offense bogged down at key moments, and then when it finally recovered, they were victimized by the basketball playing greatness of Kevin Durant. LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller combined to shoot 10-of-36 from the field and 2-of-18 from three. That’s simply not going to cut it from your two best players. Kon Knueppel turned the ball over five times, which has been a bit of a recurring issue against longer, more physical teams. Despite all that, the Hornets still took the game down to the wire thanks to the supporting cast, Grant Williams in particular.
They’ll try to get back to their winning ways against a Cavaliers team that has taken the mantle of the hottest team in the NBA. They’ve won 10 of their last 11 games and six straight. Donovan Mitchell and James Harden are the headliners. Harden has been pretty low usage since joining Cleveland, but we know what he’s capable of. Mitchell has continued his MVP caliber season.
But the guy that’s been stealing the show lately is Jarrett Allen. He’s routinely given the Hornets problems, and he’s currently in the midst of the best stretch of his career. In the six game winning streak, he’s averaging 22.8 points and 11.7 rebounds per game. That includes a career high 40 points against the Blazers back at the start of the season. He’s only gotten more dangerous with Harden in the fold, as their games fit together perfectly in the pick and roll. Ryan Kalkbrenner has his work cut out for him trying to keep Allen contained with the looks he’s getting fed.
It’s a tough one-two punch the Hornets have had to face coming out of the all star break without two of their starters. It’d be nice to steal a win here before the schedule turns more favorable in the coming days.
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