Can the Hornets hold their own in Brooklyn?

The Brooklyn Nets host the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday night. The visitors scored a razor-thin 123-122 win in their opener against the Pacers and successfully took revenge for last year’s painful loss in the play-in tournament.

For their part, the home side started with a disappointment: in the opener of the 75th NBA season, they conceded a clear 104-127 defeat at the champions from Milwaukee. However, this was followed by a win in Philadelphia. The Hornets also achieved success in their second game of the season against the Cavaliers and confirmed their good performance from the encounter with the Pacers.

For the game at the Barclays Center between the Brooklyn Nets and Charlotte Hornets, the tip is that the visitors will lose by a maximum of ten points or cause a surprise for the favourite.
You can watch the clash live on DAZN from 22:00 on Sunday evening!

Brooklyn Nets – Statistics & current form

The Brooklyn Nets enter the new season as a hot contender for the title. However, the prospects have dimmed with the absence of Kyrie Irving. “Uncle Drew” was removed from the squad a few days ago because it is not clear whether he has had a vaccination, making Irving ineligible to play in New York’s home games.

Needless to say, the turmoil surrounding the point guard has not been good for the team. The opening game against the Bucks, in which they wanted to take revenge for the elimination in the last playoffs, ended, as described, with a clear defeat.

At that time, the series was only lost in seven games and the only decisive factor was the tip of Kevin Durant’s foot in the last game, who touched the three-point line a few seconds before the end of regulation time, which meant that he was only credited with two points instead of three. Otherwise, the Bucks would have been beaten and their path to the eventual title already over.

Mills delivered successful debut

One bright spot in the recent loss to Milwaukee, however, was Patty Mills, who arrived before the season from San Antonio, where he was a champion in 2014. The Australian point guard recorded 21 points and showed in his debut with the Nets that he can definitely fill the gap caused by the loss of Irving at the one.

After the defeat in the Brew City, head coach Steve Nash’s squad took on the next heavyweight in the Eastern Conference last night. In Philly, they recorded their first win of the season. The success was due to a strong performance by Durant, who led his team with an impressive triple-double to 114-109!

In view of his two convincing performances so far, the odds of more than 44.5 points, rebounds and assists by the “Slim Reaper” in the duel between the Nets and Hornets are also interesting. A value that KD surpassed against both the Bucks and the 76ers with 47 and 56 respectively.

Predicted Brooklyn Nets lineup:
Durant – Griffin – Harris – Claxton – Harden

Charlotte Hornets – Statistics & current form

The Charlotte Hornets had a weak preseason: In the four games in the past three weeks, they only managed a win against Oklahoma City Thunder in the first game. This was followed by losses against the Grizzlies, Miami and Mavericks.

Especially the defeat against the Texans was disappointing: In the end, the Mavs had a lead of 68 points and thus got the clearest pre-season victory in a duel between two teams from the NBA since 1995! However, head coach James Borrego’s team was missing two important players in Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier.

The Queen City franchise missed the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season last season, despite finishing tenth in the Eastern Conference. However, the Pacers beat the Hornets by a very clear margin of 27 points. Still, last season can be considered an upswing and the win percentage of 45.8 percent was above the average of 43.9 percent in the history of the franchise.

Charlotte has stepped up in class

The uptick was little surprise as the squad had gained quality. With point guard LaMelo Ball, the team from the Southeast Division has the reigning “Rookie of the Year” on board and the signing of Gordon Hayward from the Boston Celtics, who acts as a powerful combo forward in Charlotte, was a stroke of luck.

In the off-season, the team from North Carolina was once again upgraded. With Kelly Oubre Jr., a small forward was signed who wants to give his career a boost with the Hornets. In his six years in the NBA, he is already with his fourth employer and after a mixed last season with the Warriors, things should now be looking up for him in the Old North State.

In addition, Mason Plumlee, a very experienced centre, was brought in from the Detroit Pistons. On the other hand, with the two guards Devonte Graham (New Orleans) and Malik Monk (LA Lakers), two efficient players were given away, so it remains to be seen where the journey will go for the Hornets.

Maximum 232 points by the final siren?

The start of the season was already hopeful with two wins against Indiana and Cleveland. Against the backdrop of the visitors’ recently improved defence and the absence of Irving on the Brooklyn side, the odds on less than 232 points in the duel between the Nets and Charlotte are also associated with sufficient value.

Moreover, the statistics of the pairing from the recent past speak in favour of this: only one of the last seven duels ended with more than 221 points and the average number of points within this review was 212.

Predicted Charlotte Hornets lineup:
Hayward – Bridges – Plumlee – Oubre – Ball

Brooklyn Nets – Charlotte Hornets Head-to-head comparison / H2H record

The last direct duel took place last April. With 130:115 the basket ball hunters from the “Borough of Trees” won in front of their own crowd. Thanks to the victory, the New Yorkers won two of the three duels in the past season; both triumphs took place at home in the Barclays Center.

However, if you look back a little, you can see that the Hornets have only lost half of the past ten guest games in the Big Apple. For the upcoming edition of Brooklyn vs. Charlotte, however, the odds are once again pointing to the home side as the favourites.

Brooklyn Nets – Charlotte Hornets Tip

The Nets most recently picked up a win against the Sixers and with it a potential rival for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. After the opening defeat at the hands of the champions, this was of course a balm for the Nash troops. However, the first win of the season was close and Philly was without its problem child Ben Simmons and with an injured Joel Embiid, which significantly weakened the opponent.

For the clash between the Brooklyn Nets and Charlotte Hornets, the tip aims for an away win or a defeat for the visitors with no more than a ten-point difference.

The home side are currently without Kyrie Irving and admittedly still outclass the visitors in terms of individual class. At the same time, there is no sign of a blowout for Charlotte. The Hornets have proven with two wins in the opener that the team around last year’s “Rookie of the Year” LaMelo Ball is in a stable early form.

Of course, the defeated Cavs and Pacers are not as strong as the upcoming opponent, but the victories have nevertheless given the guests confidence. As underdogs, they have nothing to lose at the Barclays Center and can play without pressure.