Philadelphia 76ers vs Charlotte Hornets Preview
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The Philadelphia 76ers fly down to North Carolina as they take on the Charlotte Hornets.
The Sixers come into Wednesday night's match off of an emphatic 115-106 win against the Brooklyn Nets, which happened for a few reasons.
For the first thing, despite not having any of their big three scorers, Philadelphia shot the lights out from deep, draining 16 threes on 50 percent accuracy. The second big aspect which helped the Sixers take down their division rivals was their ability to grab rebounds of both varieties, granted their 20 offensive boards proved to be more useful as they provided plenty of second chances.
Similar to previous games, Doc Rivers had to draw up a squad that didn't feature Joel Embiid, James Harden, and Tyrese Maxey, for Wednesday's match in Charlotte, Rivers will have to add Matisse Thybulle to that list after the guard's ankle kept his minutes limited.
On the other side of the ticket sits the Charlotte Hornets, who have had a less than stellar start to the season, currently sitting next to last in the Eastern Conference with a record of 4-14.
One of the factors in their struggles could be that their star guard Lamelo Ball has been sidelined with an ankle injury, only appearing in three games this season, where he averaged 19 points on 41 percent shooting while dishing out seven assists.
Despite this absence, the Hornets came close to taking down the Washington Wizards on Sunday night, losing the match 102-106. Kelly Oubre Jr. and Gordon Hayward kept their team in the game, combining for a total of 43 points, which wasn't enough to hold back the efforts of Kyle Kuzma and Bradley Beal.
The aforementioned Ball will sit out of Wednesday's match, being joined by Cody Martin, who will be out for the foreseeable future after receiving treatment on his left knee.
Players to Watch:
Sixers: De'Anthony Melton
De'Anthony Melton proved to be an important part of the Sixers' win against Brooklyn on Tuesday, scoring 22 points after he drained six shots from deep, making it his second game in a row of scoring more than 20 points. With Maxey and Harden out, Melton is starting to look more confident on the court with each start he receives.
Hornets: Gordon Hayward
One of the last times the two sides played each other in a regular season setting, Gordon Hayward put on a scoring masterclass, grabbing 30 points on 81 percent shooting from the field. This performance could've just been an anomaly, granted, now would be the time to put on another show with Philadelphia's big three currently out.
Declan Harris contributes to All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him on Twitter: @DecIanH.
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