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Who: Charlotte Hornets vs. Houston Rockets
Where: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
When: 8:00 PM ET, 7:00 PM CT
How: Fox Sports Southeast, WFNZ 610 AM
The Charlotte Hornets return to action Monday night on the road against the Houston Rockets. Charlotte struggled in their last road outing in Washington, losing a close game to the Wizards. The Rockets are coming off a big win in Houston against the Clippers to put them at .500 for the season. Charlotte currently sits at seventh in the East at 15-11 while the Rockets are also seventh in their respective conference.
This will be the first meeting of the season between the two teams. Houston is currently 4-6 against Eastern Conference teams while the Hornets have had success against Western Conference opponents at 5-2 on the season. Houston's struggled overall have come on the defensive end, where they currently rank 24th in defensive efficiency. The Hornets will bring in a balanced squad that ranks in the top ten in both offensive and defensive efficiency.
This game has the potential to be a three point chucking contest. with the Rockets shooting the most threes per game and the Hornets shooting the third most threes per game. The Hornets shoot 35.7 percent on those threes and that Rockets shoot 34.1 percent, both around league average. If there is one thing that you can bet on happening, its these teams getting it up. Both teams are also in the top ten in three point attempts against them, so there won't be any resistance to the barrage of three pointers that are subject to take place in this game.
The Hornets will hopefully have everyone but Al Jefferson and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist available for this one. Nicolas Batum returned Saturday after missing the previous game due to an illness. Aaron Harrison is also listed as having an illness, so hopefully the bug isn't spreading further around the locker room. Al Jefferson will continue to serve his suspension while Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is still out due to his shoulder injury.