Preview: Hornets head back out on the road to face Bucks

Jan 31, 2023 - 5:45 PM

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What: Charlotte Hornets (15-36) at Milwaukee Bucks (33-17)

When: 8:00 PM EST

Where: Fiserv Forum; Milwaukee, Wisc.

How to watch: Bally Sports Southeast, NBA League Pass

Outfitting: Hornets — Association (white); Bucks — Statement (black)

Injury report

CHA: Cody Martin (knee soreness), OUT; Kelly Oubre Jr. (hand surgery), OUT.

MIL: Giannis Antetokounmpo (knee soreness), PROBABLE; MarJon Beauchamp (patella tendinitis), PROBABLE; Serge Ibaka (not with team), OUT; Bobby Portis (knee), OUT.

Fresh off Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 50-point outburst over New Orleans, the Charlotte Hornets are slated to take on the Milwaukee Bucks following a pair of victories at the Spectrum Center.

Milwaukee comes into tonight winners of four-straight and six of the last seven games. The Bucks and Hornets split the first two games of the season series, with Milwaukee winning back in December and Charlotte taking a 138-109 victory on Jan. 6 behind a record-setting 51-point first quarter and a defensive effort that held Antetokounmpo to nine points on seven shot attempts. Tonight’s game is the third and final matchup of the season.

Carried by the league’s third-ranked defense, the Bucks currently hold the third-best record in the NBA behind Boston and Denver. Somewhat surprisingly, they’re only 24th in offense; perhaps a main reason why Milwaukee is one of the hotter team names on the trade market right now. They’ve been heavily linked to Jae Crowder, with The Athletic’s Shams Charania even detailing an offer that’s reportedly on the table after the Crowder was granted permission by Phoenix to meet with the Bucks brass.

Terry Rozier scored 31 points and PJ Washington added 27 as the Hornets edged out Miami last weekend. Gordon Hayward dropped 20 points on a perfect 7-7 from the floor and 3-3 from the stripe and LaMelo Ball put up 19/7/7. Small sample size alert, but across the Hornets’ last two wins, the offense ranks 17th in the league. If those performances can be replicated consistently, Charlotte might be able to rely on offense to carry them through the remainder of the season.

If the Hornets win tonight, it’d be the first three-game win streak of the entire season. Call me a fool, but I enjoy watching quality, winning basketball, so it would be fun to see Charlotte can pull off another upset tonight, especially if Antetokounmpo plays.