Charlotte Hornets

LAST 4 GAMES

- @ Chicago Bulls: L, 91-108

- vs. Cleveland Cavaliers: W, 108-102

- vs. Boston Celtics: W, 125-104

- vs. Milwaukee Bucks: L, 104-114

Another week in the books, and another split week for the Hornets. The Hornets won two and lost two last week and it is getting almost time for the playoffs and the Hornets are without some key players and they’re not playing great basketball. Don’t get me wrong, they had two good wins last week considering, but overall, they’re not playing at the caliber that they can. I realize that they need a healthy team to play at full potential and in all honesty, they’re probably playing the best ball that they can, but it is frustrating to see the Hornets on the brink of the playoffs every single season.

The Hornets should’ve beaten the Bulls and I honestly thought that they were going to lose against the Cavs again, but they happened to come out firing in the second half of that one. They were honestly the worse team of the two on Friday night, but the battle of the turnovers heavily favored the Hornets and that was the reason they won. It puzzles me as to why the Celtics are such a bad team. They have the talent, but seemingly can’t win big games this season. They are a young team, but I expected them to be much better. It was a nice win for Charlotte and hopefully we see that again tonight. The Bucks game was a much closer game than I was expecting, and I think that the Hornets could honestly shock them in a playoff series. I think the Bucks were a much better team last year and once I saw people saying that they improved tremendously in the offseason, I really didn’t see much improvement. I thought they got worse with that Jrue Holiday trade. They traded away more assets to gain an asset. Oh well, it was a loss last night, but I think once the Hornets get healthy, they can start competing again.

Week 18 MVP: Miles Bridges

Once again, Miles Bridges is coming in and dominating when the Hornets need him the most. Bridges has been great in the last few weeks and is making the most of his starts. He averaged 19.8 PPG and 7.8 RPG in the last 4 games and he has basically been doing that all month long. He is still shooting very efficiently from three and all field goals for that matter and has been the brightest spot in a very rough month. Hopefully this continues for the last couple weeks of the season.

NEXT 4 GAMES

- @ Boston Celtics (32-30): Wednesday, April 28th at 7:30pm

- vs. Detroit Pistons (19-43): Saturday, May 1st at 7pm

- vs. Miami Heat (32-30): Sunday, May 2nd at 8pm

- @ Detroit Pistons (19-43): Tuesday, May 4th at 7pm

The Hornets are seeing a familiar team this week and I’m not going to go into a lot of detail, but this is definitely a game the Hornets can win. The Celtics have lost 3 straight games and I don’t think they match up particularly well against Charlotte. They shot horribly against them in the last matchup and Charlotte was on fire. Could that have been a one-time thing? Maybe, but I think they can do it again. The Hornets definitely have momentum on their side despite losing their last game. The Celtics are also fighting to maintain the cutoff spot, so they don’t have to play in the play-in tournament. They’re trying to fend off the Heat, who happens to be the Hornets matchup on Sunday

The Hornets play the Pistons twice this week and this should definitely be two wins in the Hornets favor. The Pistons are literally playing for a top pick and since their March 11th meeting with Charlotte, they have gone 9-16. The Hornets won the only meeting between these two and have a great chance to win and even sweep the season series. Jerami Grant has definitely been the biggest surprise for the team this season and they may honestly decide to make him a part of their long-term plans. He is having a career year, but other than that, there isn’t much to get excited about for the Pistons.

The Hornets will face their biggest division rival in the Miami Heat. They always have great matchups regardless of the time of season that they’re playing and this one is a crucial game for both teams. Both teams are trying to fight their way out of the play-in tournament. The Heat haven’t had the momentum that they did last year, but they certainly have the talent to make another run. Jimmy Butler is in the prime of his career and Bam Adebayo is a steadily rising talent that has enter the discussion of the current NBA’s great big men. The Hornets have won both of their meetings this year and hopefully, they can make it a season sweep on Sunday night. Also, be on the lookout for key injury returns for Charlotte. We are approaching their projected return dates.

Yacs

Charlotte Hornets Report: Week 19 of 2020-21