Preview/Game Details: Hornets face off against wounded Grizzlies – At The Hive

What: Charlotte Hornets (16-49) (7-26 away) at Memphis Grizzlies (23-43) (8-25 home)

When: 8:00pm Eastern

Where: FedExForum; Memphis, TN

How to watch: Bally Sports Southeast, NBA League Pass

Outfitting: Hornets–Statement (purple), Grizzlies–Association (white)

Game Lines: Hornets -1.5 (favored!), O/U 205.5

Injury report: (brace yourselves)
Hornets: Tre Mann-questionable (groin), Mark WIlliams-out (back), LaMelo Ball-out (ankle), Seth Curry-out (ankle), Cody Martin-out (ankle), Bryce McGowens-out (knee)

Grizzlies: Ja Morant-out (shoulder), Desmond Bane-out (ankle), Marcus Smart-out (finger), Derrick Rose-out (groin), Ziaire Williams-out (hip), Brandon Clarke-out (achilles), Lamar Stevens-questionable (adductor), Vince Williams-questionable (knee), Yuta Wantanabe-questionable (wrist), Jaren Jackson Jr.-questionable (quad)

Honestly I might have missed some Grizzlies. They probably have ball boys and front office personnel on the injury report at this point. Their skeleton crew of an NBA team are actually home underdogs against the reigning worst team in the league Charlotte Hornets.

The Grizzlies actually played on Tuesday night with none of the players that are listed as questionable above. They, unlike the Hornets, were still able to pull off a win over the Washington Wizards. They did so by chasing down 17 offensive rebounds and outscoring the Wizards 23-2 on second chance points. Trey Jemison, who is a hulk of a human, led the Grizzlies with 24 points. 22 of those points came in the paint, and the other two came from the free throw line.

It’s not a great match-up for the Hornets despite the dearth of talent the Grizzlies have available to them. The Grizzlies still play hard and physically. The Hornets have lost three straight times to a similarly bad Pistons team that’s outworked them in all three games. The trend says the Hornets will be at an effort and physicality disadvantage tonight, and that spells bad things for their chances to win.

The Hornets need to control the defensive glass and take care of the ball to prevent easy buckets in transition for the Grizzlies. Memphis has no real offensive firepower, especially if Jaren Jackson doesn’t play, so there’s no reason the Hornets can’t keep them at bay with a set defense. The priority has to be making sure they’re playing out of a set defense as much as possible.