Charlotte Hornets at Toronto Raptors Gamethread

Even if the Hornets were fully healthy and firing on all cylinders, this season, tonight would be a tough matchup. The Raptors captured everybody's hearts last season when they finished third in the Eastern Conference and became the representative of an entire nation. The Raptors have a crazy home court advantage and the talent to back it up.

Kyle Lowry is playing like an all star this season, and when he's not trying to do too much, is one of the best point guards in the NBA. Lowry can do it all from defense, to shooting, and creating for the Raptors plethora of solid players.

But, this is also where the Raptors happen to be weakest. While Toronto has a very talented team, it's not brimming with players that strike fear into their opponents. Maybe this is a case of being in the East and a franchise that's easy to over look, but it's still hard to find players on this team that are better than solid.

If the Hornets are going to win tonight they're gonna need to force Kyle Lowry to try and do too much. Lowry is one of the most talented guards in the NBA but at times he'll think he needs to shoot over four defenders, or make a pass into a spot that just doesn't exist. Get Lowry to go lone wolf and the Hornets can get themselves an edge.

Even with the Raptors being full of solid but not great players, that doesn't change the fact that they're heavy favorites going into tonight. Lets see if the Hornets have what it takes to pull off a big win.