Preview/Game Details: Hornets open season series with Cavaliers – At The Hive

What: Charlotte Hornets (17-53) (8-29 away) at Cleveland Cavaliers (43-28) (22-14 home)

When: 7:00pm Eastern

Where: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse; Cleveland, OH

How to watch: Bally Sports Southeast, NBA League Pass

Outfitting: Hornets–Association (white), Cavaliers–Icon (Maroon I guess?)

Game Lines: Hornets +12.5, O/U 204.5

Injuries:
Hornets: JT Thor-probable (shoulder), LaMelo Ball-out (ankle), Seth Curry-out (ankle), Cody Martin-out (ankle), Mark Williams-out (back_. Bryce McGowens-out (knee)

Cavaliers: Donovan Mitchell-out (face), Ty Jerome-out (ankle), Max Strus-questionable (knee), Dean Wade-questionable (knee)

It’s wild that there are only 12 games left in the season and the Charlotte Hornets are only now playing their first of three games against the Cavaliers. There was a period not that long ago where the Cavs were the hottest team in the league. From January 3rd through February 10th, they went 17-1. Star guard Donovan Mitchell has been banged up for most of the time since that winning streak, and his team has crashed hard because of it. They’re 7-11 since the all star break, losers of three straight, and coming off a game in which they trailed by as many as 45 points.

If the Hornets are optimistic, they can say they’ve caught the Cavs at a good time since they’re playing their worst ball of the season. On the other hand, they could say that the Cavs are going to be locked in coming off such an embarrassing loss to the Heat on Saturday. Either way, it has to be one of the few times in NBA history that two teams that trailed by over 40 points in their previous games matched up with one another.

In the four games since Donovan Mitchell’s broken nose, the Cavs have been led in scoring by noted Hornets killer Jarrett Allen. He’s averaging a double double and will surely be fed a handful of dunks tonight. Darius Garland has struggled badly, which is certainly a big factor in the Cavs struggles as a team. He’s averaging just 15 points per game on 36% shooting from the field and 23% shooting from three in those four games.

Elsewhere, the Hornets need to be mindful of Sam Merrill and Georges Niang, who are one dimensional shooters but really, really good at it. Caris LeVert can get hot and collect some buckets. Evan Mobley will cause nightmares for the Hornets stubborn bull rushes to the rim.

It’s the last game of yet another Hornets road trip. They’ll have played 12 of 16 games since the all star break on the road with no consecutive home games in that span. Respite is on the horizon though. After tonight, they get eight straight in the friendly confines of Spectrum Center.