Barclays Center gets a Wednesday night between two teams looking for a spark: Charlotte is 3-5 and has lost four straight, Brooklyn is 1-6, and Kon Knueppel finally makes a season debut. Laying 3.5 on the road with this Hornets team looks strange at first, but I think it's the right side. Brooklyn has the better season numbers, about -8.5 per 100 possessions to Charlotte's -11.8. Those numbers undersell tonight's Hornets. Knueppel missed all eight games, and Coby White missed seven of them. Charlotte is also shooting just 29.6% from three (105-355), which has room to improve. The sample is skewed too: two Detroit games and one against Atlanta account for -88 of Charlotte's -90 point differential and half of its league-high 158 turnovers. Those opponents piled up 45 steals. Brooklyn had 7 in the first meeting and averages under 9. The floor is solid even if the returns are limited. White played 16 minutes Monday and Knueppel could have a cap, but Dennis Schroder, Sion James and Grayson Allen can cover those minutes. Charlotte won in this building by 7 on Oct. 21 without White or Knueppel, taking 13 more shots and winning second-chance points 20-8. Brooklyn's results also flatter it. The 4-point loss in Cleveland was 112-97 with 5:00 left, and the only win came against an Indiana team missing six players. The Nets are 0-3 at home, losing by an average of 16.7, and they lost Monday's fourth quarter 28-11 after leading the Knicks through three. This is also their third game in four nights. Julius Randle and Michael Porter Jr. played at least 36 minutes both Sunday and Monday, while no Hornet topped 31 in Monday's blowout. There are real risks. Charlotte scored only about 97.8 per 100 during the skid, this starting five hasn't started together this season, and the turnovers could continue. Brooklyn averages 27.9 free throw attempts to Charlotte's 16.9 and led 25-15 in the first meeting. Nolan Traoré played just 16 minutes that night but now starts and has nine threes in the last two games, and Mikel Brown Jr. should be available. A 3-point Charlotte win still loses this ticket. White is listed as probable with no game-day update. If White sits or Knueppel's minutes look very limited, this price loses much of its appeal. As it stands, I'm on Charlotte.
Barclays Center gets a Wednesday night between two teams looking for a spark: Charlotte is 3-5 and has lost four straight, Brooklyn is 1-6, and Kon Knueppel finally makes a season debut. Laying 3.5 on the road with this Hornets team looks strange at first, but I think it's the right side.
Brooklyn has the better season numbers, about -8.5 per 100 possessions to Charlotte's -11.8. Those numbers undersell tonight's Hornets. Knueppel missed all eight games, and Coby White missed seven of them. Charlotte is also shooting just 29.6% from three (105-355), which has room to improve. The sample is skewed too: two Detroit games and one against Atlanta account for -88 of Charlotte's -90 point differential and half of its league-high 158 turnovers. Those opponents piled up 45 steals. Brooklyn had 7 in the first meeting and averages under 9.
The floor is solid even if the returns are limited. White played 16 minutes Monday and Knueppel could have a cap, but Dennis Schroder, Sion James and Grayson Allen can cover those minutes. Charlotte won in this building by 7 on Oct. 21 without White or Knueppel, taking 13 more shots and winning second-chance points 20-8.
Brooklyn's results also flatter it. The 4-point loss in Cleveland was 112-97 with 5:00 left, and the only win came against an Indiana team missing six players. The Nets are 0-3 at home, losing by an average of 16.7, and they lost Monday's fourth quarter 28-11 after leading the Knicks through three. This is also their third game in four nights. Julius Randle and Michael Porter Jr. played at least 36 minutes both Sunday and Monday, while no Hornet topped 31 in Monday's blowout.
There are real risks. Charlotte scored only about 97.8 per 100 during the skid, this starting five hasn't started together this season, and the turnovers could continue. Brooklyn averages 27.9 free throw attempts to Charlotte's 16.9 and led 25-15 in the first meeting. Nolan Traoré played just 16 minutes that night but now starts and has nine threes in the last two games, and Mikel Brown Jr. should be available. A 3-point Charlotte win still loses this ticket.
White is listed as probable with no game-day update. If White sits or Knueppel's minutes look very limited, this price loses much of its appeal. As it stands, I'm on Charlotte.
Hornets -3.5