Preview/Game Details: The Hornets have to play the Bucks one more time – At The Hive

What: Charlotte Hornets (15-43) (8-21 home) (0-3 vs Bucks) vs Milwaukee Bucks (38-21) (14-14 away) (3-0 vs Hornets)

When: 7:00pm Eastern

Where: Spectrum Center; Charlotte, NC

How to watch: Bally Sports Southeast, NBA League Pass

Outfitting: Hornets–Classic (teal), Bucks–Association (white)

Game Lines: Hornets +11.5, O/U 218.5

Injuries:
Hornets: LaMelo Ball-out (ankle), Mark Williams-out (back)

Bucks: Khris Middleton-out (ankle), MarJon Beauchamp-probable (tummy ache)

There’s not a whole lot to preview since everybody saw what just happened, for better or worse. We did a preview for this matchup two days ago and then the game went really, really poorly. The Hornets are now 0 for 3 against the Bucks this season with every game being decided by over 30 points. They’re clearly overwhelmed by the Bucks size and talent, and that’s not likely to change over the course of two days.

With that in mind, here are a few goals the Hornets can strive for tonight. All of these would be firsts for a game they’ve played against the Bucks this season:

• Score 100 points
• Hold the Bucks to less than 120 points
• Lose by fewer than 30 points
• Make at least 28% of their 3-point shot attempts

If the Hornets can do a few of those things, it’ll at least be a watchable game.

On a bigger scale, the Hornets have to figure out their offense. According to Cleaning the Glass, the Hornets have offensive ratings of 85.7, 96.9, and 83.1 in non-garbage time minutes of their last three games. Those rank in the first, seventh, and first percentiles respectively of all games this season. The defense has been elite since the new guys got here. The offense had been passable in the first few games but fell off a Cliff during the post-All Star Game road trip. Perhaps a return home is all they need to rediscover their rhythm, but the return home being against the Bucks definitely quells any optimism for that.

Probably the best thing the Hornets have going for them tonight is that the Bucks have beaten them so easily in their previous meetings that they won’t get up for the game and take the Hornets seriously. If that happens and the Hornets are able to jump out to an early lead, they’ll put the Bucks into one of the hardest positions in sports–good team trying to flip the switch midgame. Players often try to overcorrect after starting slowly and falling behind to an inferior team and end up struggling to get on track. Maybe that happens tonight, but probably not.