Hornets look for payback against Warriors after blowout last week

INJURY REPORT

Hornets: OUT -Tre Mann (Back), Grant Williams (Knee), Brandon Miller (Wrist), Josh Okogie (Hamstring), , K.J. Simpson (G-League); PROBABLE - Miles Bridges (Illness), Seth Curry (Back), Wendell Moore Jr. (Concussion Protocol)

Warriors: OUT - Jonathan Kuminga (Ankle); PROBABLE - Jimmy Butler (Back), Quinten Post (Ankle)

Game Preview

The Charlotte Hornets (14-45) are home on Monday, this time hosting Charlotte-native Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors (32-28). This is a chance for redemption for a Hornets team that was embarrassed when these two teams met last week with Golden State handing Charlotte a128-92 loss. The Hornets have not beaten the Warriors since an overtime victory in October 2022.

The Hornets come into this matchup amidst a frustrating slump that has seen the team win just twice in the last seventeen games played. Over that stretch the Hornets have really struggled to score the basketball, shooting just 40.9% from the field and 32.0% from three.

The Warriors come into the matchup on one of their best stretches of the season. Since acquiring Jimmy Butler via trade from the Miami Heat, the Warriors are 7-2 and have the third-best net rating in the NBA at 13.3. Behind the power of the third-ranked offense and third-ranked defense, the Warriors appear to be a team getting hot at the right time as the playoffs draw near.

Key Matchup - Limiting Turnovers

When these teams met on February 25th, the game was fully in control by the Warriors from start to finish. The Hornets shot just 37.1% from the field and 27.5% from three in that one which played a large part in the loss. This season’s Hornets are never going to be as efficient shooting as a talented team with Steph Curry on the roster though, so a better use of effort would be shoring up more controllable factors.

Turnovers happen to be one of those factors, and there was a large discrepancy in the last game in how the two teams were able to avoid and make use of turnovers. The Hornets committed a disastrous 25 turnovers in the game, allowing the Warriors to convert them into 37 points. On the other side, the Warriors committed a more manageable 12 turnovers, allowing just 19 converted points to the Hornets off of those turnovers.

If Charlotte is going to stand a chance against a team who thoroughly outplayed them recently, avoiding mental mistakes is a great way to stay more in the mix.

Projected Starting Lineups

Position	Charlotte Hornets	Golden State Warriors
PG	LaMelo Ball	Stephen Curry
SG	Nick Smith Jr.	Brandin Podziemski
SF	Josh Green	Jimmy Butler
PF	Miles Brides	Moses Moody
C	Mark Williams	Draymond Green

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