Preview: Suns Need Win vs Hornets
PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns (38-28) are continuing their quest to avoid the play-in tournament this evening as they take on the Charlotte Hornets (17-49) at Spectrum Center.
The Suns are playing the second half of a back-to-back after falling to the Boston Celtics yesterday, while Charlotte defeated the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night.
Eric Gordon and Josh Okogie are out, while Charlotte has numerous players out including LaMelo Ball (R Ankle), Seth Curry (R Ankle), Cody Martin (L Ankle), Bryce McGowens (R Knee) and Mark Williams (Low Back).
A brief update on the Hornets, key matchup, and game prediction:
Hornets: Bottom of the NBA
The Hornets fell to 7-23 after losing to the Suns on Dec. 29 - and have gone 10-26 since that point.
While there have been a handful of positive developments for the Hornets since the matchup with the Suns in Phoenix - including rookie Brandon Miller's emergence, the Hornets have been without franchise player LaMelo Ball for the majority of the season.
It shows in the standings.
The Hornets are 17-49, which is somehow only 13th place in the East, and the Hornets also posses a league-worst -9.9 point differential while also being near the bottom of the league in offensive and defensive rating.
The silver lining for the Hornets of late has been the recent acquisitions - Grant Williams, Vasilije Micic and Tre Mann have all had moments of strong productivity since being acquired by Charlotte.
Key Matchup: Nick Richards vs Jusuf Nurkic
This could be a battle where Nurkic exploits a mismatch.
Richards is a fine NBA player, but Nurkic has been on an absolute tear rebounding the ball of late, and currently ranks seventh in the association in RPG.
While Richards and the Suns' big man average roughly the same offensive rebound totals per game, Richards is significantly worse on the defensive glass - and that could certainly be a matchup in which Nurkic can crash the offensive glass.
The Suns likely have the upper hand this game, but creating extra possessions will never hurt - especially when Charlotte still possesses a fair amount of shot making talent as well.
Prediction: Suns Win
The Suns need this win for a multitude of reasons, but most of all they need to avoid the proposition of losing games they should win - which will obviously lead to needing more victories against top-level teams in the West down the road.
The Suns should bounce back from a loss to a Celtics squad that is dominant at home, which will in turn set up another date with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Suns-Hornets is set to tip off shortly after 4:00 PM AZ time this afternoon.
