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The Charlotte Hornets and Toronto Raptors are headed in different directions. The Hornets are 1-9 in their past 10 games, with their only win coming against the lowly Detroit Pistons. The Raptors are cooking with hot fire, having won nine of 11.
A big part of the Hornets’ recent struggles is the loss of Gordon Hayward, one of Charlotte’s best scorers and playmakers. His pure box-score numbers don’t do him justice and the Hornets are just 3-9 without him this season. Over the past two weeks, Charlotte has scored just 110.4 points per 100 possessions — 25th among all teams.
The Hornets also can’t stop a nosebleed. They rank 20th in defensive rating, allowing opposing teams to score 112.5 points per 100 possessions in their non-garbage time minutes. The Raptors have a huge edge in transition against a Hornets team that is just 15th in transition defense, an area in which the Raptors are sixth at 3.5 points per 100 possessions. The Hornets struggle to defend the perimeter, allowing the fourth highest frequency of 3-point field goals, so expect Fred VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr. to have big nights in this spot.
Toronto also has a huge rebounding advantage, with big edges over Charlotte in offensive boards and putback points.
The Raptors have won four of the last five against the Hornets. They won 116-101 on Feb. 7 and 125-113 on Jan. 25. Lay the points with the Raptors in a game in which they should dominate on offense.
The play: Raptors -2
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