Score Predictions for Charlotte Hornets vs. Portland Trail Blazers

The red-hot Charlotte Hornets return home on a three-game winning streak after extending their franchise-record road winning streak to nine games with a victory over the Indiana Pacers, giving them 13 wins in their last 16 contests.

Charlotte hosts the Portland Trail Blazers today at 1 p.m. in the first meeting of the season between the two teams as Spectrum Center celebrates the organization’s annual HBCU Day.

Here is how our staff sees this game playing out.

Evan Campos : Hornets 122, Trail Blazers 110

It is funny to look at two NBA teams with the same record and see the clear gap in the quality of basketball Charlotte is playing compared to Portland right now. The Hornets are 15-5 in their last 20 games and have been one of the best operations in basketball over the past two and a half months, while the Trail Blazers rank bottom ten in both offense and net rating on the season and are without their best player, Deni Avdija.

Important to note, Charlotte is just 1-5 against Portland since the start of the 2022-23 season, and Portland can be dangerous at times with its small-ball lineups, but the key for me in this one is whether the Hornets can create some havoc defensively against a Blazers team with the worst turnover percentage in the NBA and get out and run. If they do, I really like their chances in this one.

Schuyler Callihan : Hornets 125, Trail Blazers 101

The Hornets have found their groove again now that Miles Bridges and Moussa Diabaté are back in the lineup, and the addition of Coby White has really helped stabilize the second unit. The Blazers have some firepower with Avdija and Sharpe, but I don’t foresee them matching buckets all night with the best offense in the league. Hornets cruise to another win.

Zachary Roberts : Hornets 120, Trail Blazers 110

In team net rating, the Hornets are roughly five points better than the Trail Blazers. That obviously includes the horrible start Charlotte got off to, so the real gap is much wider. Both teams are around the same record, but there’s definitely a difference between the two and it should show up today.

Albert Böttcher : Hornets 114, Trail Blazers 98

The Trail Blazers have a solid but far from great team when healthy, and they're all but that. They can still be disruptive defensively here and there, but if they're without Avdija/Sharpe/Clingan I really can't see them keeping up offensively.