Preview: Hornets debut City edition uniforms against streaking Timberwolves

Nov 25, 2022 - 6:44 PM

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What: Charlotte Hornets (5-14) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (10-8)

When: 5:00 PM EST

Where: Spectrum Center; Charlotte, N.C.

How to watch: Bally Sports Southeast, NBA League Pass

Outfitting: Hornets — City (granite); Timberwolves — City (white)

Injury report

CHA: LaMelo Ball (left ankle sprain), OUT; Gordon Hayward (left shoulder contusion), OUT; Cody Martin (right knee surgery), OUT; Dennis Smith Jr. (left ankle sprain), OUT.

MIN: Kyle Anderson (back spasms), QUESTIONABLE; Rudy Gobert (left ankle sprain), QUESTIONABLE; Jordan McLaughlin (left calf strain), OUT; Josh Minott (G League assignment), OUT; Taurean Prince (right shoulder subluxation), OUT.

The Charlotte Hornets will debut their City edition uniforms tonight against the Minnesota Timberwolves, winners of five in-a-row, as they look build some momentum of their own following a bounce-back victory on Wednesday.

After years of “CHA” lettering on alternate uniforms, the Hornets have licensed the “CLT” abbreviation for the 2022-23 City edition uniform and gone back to the Mint City theme last used in 2020-21. The granite base with mint and gold pinstripes is a very good look, and the accompanying court with the Buzz City center logo is really nice as well.

The Wolves will also be wearing their City uniforms tonight, which are pretty cool in their own right. Minnesota has played decent basketball so far this year, sitting firmly within the tier of West playoff contenders with a record above .500 after winning five-straight games. They haven’t figured how to blend the twin towers duo of Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns together yet and Anthony Edwards’ passing limitations have been exacerbated with more responsibility as a playmaker, but they’ve established a solid defensive base (110.1 rating) that has them inside the top-10 and they play with excellent pace, ranking third in seconds per possession (13.6) per Inpredictable.

The contrast in Gobert’s impact on offense and defense is remarkable. Per Cleaning The Glass, Minnesota is -17.2 points per 100 possessions with Gobert on the floor on offense, but are 5.9 points better per 100 possessions with him on the floor defensively. When zooming out and looking at the bigger picture, I’m not sure that number is super meaningful or that it’s Gobert’s fault, but it does show that there’s still a ways to go before he’s properly integrated into the offense.

If Gobert misses the game, the Hornets sneakily have an advantage in the size and strength department with Mason Plumlee, Nick Richards and PJ Washington going up against Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid and Towns, though that admittedly tilts heavily back towards the Wolves if the best rim protector in the game is available.

The Hornets could’ve used a healthy Gordon Hayward tonight, but he’s clearly been bothered by that shoulder injury since aggravating it against Washington, so resting may be the better long-term decision. Either way, let’s hope the Hornets got a good night’s sleep in after dinner yesterday and are ready for an early start on Black Friday.