Live Thread: Cavs @ Hornets

Live Thread: Cavs @ Hornets

2017-11-15 Off By David Wood

The Cavs are in Charlotte tonight to take on the Hornets. This is the fourth and final game of the their road trip. They’re 2-1 so far, which is better than it seems. They needed hot Kyle Korver fourth quarters in  their wins against the Mavs and Knicks. It’s not going too far to say that they got lucky twice.

Charlotte gets  Nicolas Batum back for the first time this year tonight. Batum is at the sweet spot between All-Star and Very Good Role Player. Fortunately for Charlotte, the French forward seems to know this and plays a pleasant brand of basketball where he keeps the rock moving and is at least near the right spot on  the defensive end. He’s going to help.

The Cavs need to come out strong and shut down Charlotte right away. Kemba Walker is a very good guard and will be able to manage a lead at the end of the game for the Hornets. On top of that, Charlotte is averaging 13.8 turnovers a night, which is the tied for fewest in the NBA.

They aren’t going to give this game away. They also have Dwight Howard. He’s averaging a double-double and might be a bit of an issue for Cleveland without Tristan Thompson being available to stop him from rim running. Charlotte is also full of capable defenders, including Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who in theory will be on LeBron James for parts of this game.

If the Cavs pull out a win tonight, this road trip will be a success. However, with the Hornets not being one of the better teams according to record right now, they’ve lost four in a row, Cleveland may very well sleep walk their way into another loss because of effort. I’m picking Charlotte 110-97.

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