Charlotte Hornets look to spring an upset over surging Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Orlando Magic

The Charlotte Hornets are set to return home on Tuesday night following an 0-2 road trip that features lopsided losses in Oklahoma City and Miami. Their opponent on Tuesday night at The Hive is a familiar one - the Orlando Magic.

In three games this season against Orlando, Charlotte has failed to score more than 90 points, meaning buckets will be at a premium in tonight's contest. The Hornets have pulled their offense out of the gutter in March, their offensive rating of 110.8 in the month blows the 101.1 number from February out of the water, but there is potential for the fourth meeting against the Magic in 2024-25 to devolve into a slog at any moment.

The major story line for Charlotte tonight is the return of Josh Okogie. The mid-season trade acquisition injured his hamstring on a fast break and has missed nearly two months as he recovered from the muscle ailment. His re-insertion to Charlotte's lineup will bring some much needed juice off of Charles Lee's bench in a matchup that will require it.

Injury report

Charlotte Hornets: QUESTIONABLE Josh Okogie (Hamstring) OUT Tre Mann (Back), Grant Williams (ACL) Brandon Miller (Wrist)

Orlando Magic: Questionable Trevelin Queen (Ankle) OUT Moritz Wagner (Knee), Jalen Suggs (Knee), Cole Anthony (Toe)

Key Matchup

Miles Bridges vs. Paolo Banchero

LaMelo Ball gets the headlines, but Miles Bridges is the Hornets' most consistent producer these days. That fact makes his head-to-head battle against Banchero a best-on-best matchup in the Queen City.

Bridges has cooled off from the ridiculous heater he was on early in March, but his month-long statistics (24.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 4.6 assists on 47/35/89 splits) outpace his season-long resume by a decent clip. He'll have his hands full tonight with as he carries his normal offensive load on top of drawing the assignment of slowing down Banchero.

The former number one overall pick is rounding into form after an early-season oblique injury kept him out of the Magic lineup for a couple of weeks. Banchero has scored at least 30 points in five of Orlando's last six contests, bullying opposing defenders with his elite blend of size, speed, and touch.

Keeping Banchero off of the free throw line will be the key to Charlotte slowing down the All-Star forward. His 9.1 free throw attemps per game in March have been the catalyst to his late-season resurgence.

Projected staring lineups

Orlando Magic	Charlotte Hornets
Cory Joseph	LaMelo Ball
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope	Josh Green
Franz Wagner	DaQuan Jeffries
Paolo Banchero	Miles Bridges
Wendell Carter	Mark Williams

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