On 7th of January, we will see Phoenix Suns hosting Charlotte Hornets at Talking Stick Resort in hopes to bounce back from their 5 consecutive defeats.
Phoenix Suns are currently the last team in the West with an overall record of 9-31, with the only team in the league that has a worse record being Cleveland Cavaliers (8-32). As mentioned, Suns are struggling in recent matches, losing all of their recent 5 games, despite winning 4 straight games before Christmas. Tonight they will be playing their 6th consecutive home match in hopes to grab a win tonight, after a 10 point defeat against LA Clippers. In the match against Clippers, Suns were trailing by 19 points by the end of the 1st quarter alone. If that was not enough, Clippers added another 5 points to their lead in the 2nd quarter. With a poor performance from Suns in the first 2 quarters, they headed into the 2nd half 24 points behind the visiting team, LA Clippers (44:68). In the last 2 quarters, Suns woke up and outperformed Clippers, outscoring them by 11 points in the 3rd and 3 points in the 4th quarter. Despite improving, they still failed to close the huge gap. Final score: 111:121.
Charlotte Hornets are currently 8th in the East, with an overall record of 18-20 and 2-3 in their last 5 games. Their performances this season were rather inconsistent, as they can play well, but fail to do so in the next match. One of the most memorable defeats in their recent matches was without the doubt the 84:122 defeat against Dallas Mavericks. In the match that followed, Hornets were also defeated by Denver Nuggets, and despite performing better compared to the Mavericks game, they still lost by 13 points (123:110). Going into this match, Hornets will be without Zeller, while Lamb is still questionable, but he is also expected to miss out the next match.
These two teams have not met each other yet this season. The last match between Suns and Hornets took place on 10th of March 2018, when it was Hornets who celebrated the win (122:115), but I am a bit sceptical if that will be the case tonight. Hornets have not been performing well recently and if they don’t improve drastically, they are expected to struggle even against the Phoenix Suns, who are currently the 2nd worst team in the league. To be fair, neither of the teams are playing well, however, I believe this match will be a great opportunity for Suns to grab their 10th win of the season against struggling Hornets. Suns won’t get many more chances to win like tonight, so expect them to try their best to win tonight.
Prediction: Phoenix Suns to win
Odds: 2.11 Matchbook
