The second-to-last long road trip of the season.
What: Charlotte Hornets (10-29) at Milwaukee Bucks (25-13
When: 8:00 PM EST
Where: Fiserv Forum; Milwaukee, Wis.
How to watch: Bally Sports Southeast, NBA League Pass
Outfitting: Hornets — Icon (teal); Bucks — Classic (purple)
Injury report
CHA: Gordon Hayward (hamstring soreness), DOUBTFUL; Kelly Oubre Jr. (hand sprain), OUT.
MIL: Giannis Antetokounmpo (knee), MarJon Beauchamp (thigh), George Hill (illness), Jrue Holiday (illness), all PROBABLE; Khris Middleton (knee), OUT.
LaMelo Ball and the Charlotte Hornets begin a four-game road swing tonight with a matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Hornets look to avoid their fourth-straight loss following a 131-107 drubbing at the hands of the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday. Ball became the fourth-youngest player in NBA history to record 1,000 career assists, behind only LeBron James, Stephon Marbury and Trae Young, while recording his 13th-straight game of 20-plus points with two three-pointers and making Hornets history in the process. Bright spots have been hard to find this season, but Ball is still trudging along on the path to stardom.
With 20 points and three 3-pointers tonight vs. Memphis, @MELOD1P has recorded at least 20 points and two 3-pointers in 13 straight games, matching Glen Rice (Dec. 30, 1996 – Jan. 24, 1997) for the longest such streak in @hornets history.#LetsFly https://t.co/aUMizd4lQj
— Charlotte Hornets PR (@HornetsPR) January 5, 2023
Even sans Middleton, and potentially Antetokounmpo and Holiday, the Bucks are a tough matchup for the Hornets. They were in a similar injury situation for the first matchup of the season back on Dec. 3, but Milwaukee pulled out a relatively comfortable 105-96 win with Brook Lopez, Bobby Portis and Jordan Nwora leading the charge. If Giannis and Jrue do end up playing, the Hornets have little in the way of perimeter defense to help limit their effectiveness.
Let’s see how Mark Williams bounces back after a couple of lackluster performances compared to his rotational debut. He’s just 2-7 from the field in the last two games and is shooting 68 percent at the rim (15-22 FG) this season per Cleaning The Glass, landing him in the 36th percentile among NBA centers; once he adjusts to the physicality and intensity of the game, we should see those numbers climb. He’s still looked really good, and has also been one of the few positives to come out of this Hornets season so far.