It is the tale of two struggling and disappointing teams in a game between the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat which tips off at 7:30PM EST. This is their first game of back to back meetings with the same matchup occurring on Saturday.
The Hornets have lost their last six games leading up to today with a big part due to missing three key players due to injury with Lamelo Ball, Cody Martin, and Gordon Hayward. Which has led them to sit at the bottom of the eastern conference.
The Heat have lost their last two games and sit at 4-7 with their own fair share of injuries. Victor Oladipo, Omer Yurtseven, are already out with Tyler Herro, Udonis Haslem, and Caleb Martin being questionable.
Both of these teams have the same offensive troubles paired with a solid defense which makes this game very hard to predict.
How Charlotte Can Win:
They need to perform better shooting the ball especially from deep. They only shoot 33% from the three point line this season including just 25% in their last three games. They need their shots to fall because they cannot keep scoring below the century mark if they want to win any games.
They game doesn’t just fall onto the hands of Kelly Oubre Jr. or Terry Rozier. They need their depth to step up and play a complete game of basketball. Going on a few stretches misses and letting up the lead will be the story in this one if the entire Hornets team cannot consistently hit their shots.
How Miami Can Win:
Just like Charlotte, the Miami Heat have had the exact same struggles on offense. They shoot 34% from three which might struggle if Tyler Herro doesn’t suit up. They also only average 0.1 points more than the Hornets do but honestly, the Heat win this game with their defense. They are ninth in points per game allowed and if they can hold the Hornets to below 100 points, I think they can lock this game up in a close one.
Prediction: Miami Heat 103 Charlotte Hornets 97
Both of these teams have struggled scoring this season and I do think more of that continues into tonight, but ultimately, the Heat are the better and healthier team in this one.
