Hornets look to beat another all-time great in road bout with Nuggets

INJURY REPORT

For the Charlotte Hornets, the injury report is: OUT: Tre Mann (Disc), Brandon Miller (Right Wrist), Josh Okogie (Left Hamstring), and Grant Williams (Right ACL).

The Denver Nuggets' injury report is: PROBABLE: Aaron Gordon (Calf), Michael Porter Jr. (hamstring), and Jamal Murray (knee). OUT: Vlatco Cancar (Knee), Peyton Watson (Knee), and DaRon Holmes II.

GAME PREVIEW

These two teams had a surprisingly good game back in Charlotte on February 1, but it was still a win for the Nuggets. Charlotte had a late lead but couldn't hold on. The Hornets are coming off a win over the Los Angeles Lakers, while the Nuggets have not yet played following the All-Star break. They're fully rested.

Mark Williams is back in the fold, and he had a solid if unspectacular game in his return, but he will have his hands full with Nikola Jokic tonight. Jokic had 28 points, 13 rebounds, and 17 assists against the Hornets last time.

The Hornets can finally move past the Lakers trade or lack thereof, but the schedule doesn't get any easier with a vaunted Western Conference foe. They don't have much to play for now that they've exacted revenge on LA, and this is a difficult matchup on the second night of a back-to-back.

The Hornets are healthy. The players they've listed as out are no surprises, as they've all either been shut down for the year or haven't played in a really long time. However, it wouldn't be a huge surprise if either Mark Williams or LaMelo Ball was sat down for precaution.

Ball suffered an ankle injury before the All-Star break and Williams had been held out for conditioning following the failed trade, and he often doesn't play back-to-backs to help his previously injured foot.

Key Matchup: Nikola Jokic vs. any Hornets defender

There's really no one in the NBA who can guard Nikola Jokic, so this is a nightly issue for anyone facing Denver. He's just that special. However, the Hornets in particular don't have a great interior defense. Mark Williams will presumably be his primary defender most of the time.

Among Hornets players with at least two games played, Williams is dead last in defensive rating at 117.0. That does not bode well for the Hornets even coming close to slowing Jokic down. The Hornets may have to limit Williams' minutes or try to get him on the floor when Jokic is not.

If they do that, the responsibility will fall to Nikola Jokic and Moussa Diabate, both of whom figure to get some minutes at the five. In a very small sample size, Nurkic has been excellent defensively (team-low excluding Jared Rhoden 85.7 defensive rating in almost 34 total minutes).

Diabate has been good defensively, too, but he's undersized. He's two inches shorter than Jokic, and the Nuggets star has some mass on him, too. Diabate works hard on the defensive end, and he and Nurkic will have to do that tonight. How often they can be the ones guarding Jokic might be the difference between a huge performance and a good one.

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

Position	Hornets	Nuggets
PG	LaMelo Ball	Russell Westbrook
SG	Nick Smith Jr.	Jamal Murray
SF	Josh Green	Michael Porter Jr.
PF	Miles Bridges	Christian Braun
C	Mark Williams	Nikola Jokic

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