After last night's thrilling game against the Jazz, the Hornets look to extend their winning streak to two games against the Suns tonight. The Hornets will be without DWest tonight, who suffered a horrific knee injury last night and is still waiting on MRI results (fortunately, X-Rays came back negative). The Suns are hanging on to their playoff lives by a thread, and a loss tonight would basically put the final nail in their coffin. The two teams have split the season series so far, and both games have come down to the wire. Without DWest and on the second night of back to back on the road, I'd be pretty encouraged if the Hornets can continue that trend.
Key Matchups
Steve Nash vs CP3
The two best PGs of the bast five years find themselves matched up once again. CP3 dominated the last matchup (scoring 26 points on 9 of 16 shooting plus 9 assists vs Nash's 8 points on 3 of 8 shooting and 10 assists)... Not surprisingly, the Hornets won that one. The two played to a draw in the Suns win (10 points and 15 assists on 3 of 9 shooting for Nash, 26 points on 7 of 14 shooting plus 12 assists for CP3... ok, CP had an edge there, but Nash had a great game too). With both teams struggling to get stops, look for great PGs to have a big game tonight.
Oak vs Marcin Gortat
Gortat absolutely destroyed the Hornets in the first meeting, scoring 25 points on 9 of 10 shooting and adding 11 boards (in just 24 mins!). The Hornets somewhat limited him in the second meeting, holding him to 10 points on 4 of 8 shooting and 8 boards in 36 mins. The Hornets need to hold him to the second type of game to have a chance tonight.
Prediction
The Suns are 5 point favorites; given the Hornets difficulties keeping up with running / athletic teams and the fact they played on overtime game last night, I think the Suns win. However, the question is: can the Hornets keep it close enough to cover. I don't think they can tonight.
Suns 104, Hornets 96