Hornets and Pelicans Clash with Draft Lottery Stakes on the Line

What: Charlotte Hornets (18-55) (7-29 away) at New Orleans Pelicans (20-54) (13-24 home)

When: 7:00pm Eastern

Where: Smoothie King Center; New Orleans, LA

How to watch: FanDuel Sports Network, NBA League Pass

Outfitting: Hornets–Association (white), Pelicans–City (purple)

Game Lines: Hornets +3.5, Hornets money line +125, O/U 213.5

Injuries:
Hornets: Josh Okogie-probable (hamstring), Tidjane Salaün-questionable (ankle), Mark Williams-out (injury management), Josh Green-out (shoulder “soreness”), Seth Curry-out (knee “soreness”), LaMelo Ball-out (ankle, wrist), Brandon Miller-out (wrist), Tre Mann-out (back), Grant Williams (knee)

Pelicans: Jordan Hawkins-questionable (back), Kelly Olynyk-questionable (achilles), Zion Williamson-out (back), CJ McCollum-out (foot), Dejounte Murray-out (achilles), Trey Murphy III-out (shoulder), Herbert Jones-out (shoulder), Brandon Boston-out (ankle)

As you can see by the injury reports, both teams find this game very important. The Hornets have shut down three of their better active players with injury management and sore joints. The Pelicans barely have a basketball team. These teams are currently separated by just 1.5 games in the current lottery odds, so tonight’s game is going to have significant implications on lottery balls.

The Pelicans have had a nightmare season as their injury players shockingly all got injured. They decided to cut bait with one of those guys, Brandon Ingram, and focus on the offseason lottery balls quite a while ago. They’ve found reasons to sit out most of the rest of their good players, especially for key lottery matchups like this one.

With all of those guys sitting, I guess Bruce Brown is their best player? Yves Missi has been an under-the-radar very good rookie. Jose Alvrado does stuff sometimes. There’s really not a lot there. This is probably what other teams think when they look at what the Hornets are trotting out their most nights.

On this night, it’s going to basically be Miles Bridges and a bunch of G-League-ish guys. If Bridges’ struggles continues, this could turn into an eyeball burning skeleton of an NBA game.