The Charlotte Hornets and Cleveland Cavaliers are playing live on the NBA schedule on Monday night and the matchup from Quicken Loans Arena starts at 7 pm ET and has LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving matching up with Lance Stephenson and the lowly Hornets as the Cavs try and bounce back after a loss to the Pelicans.
The Cavaliers lost against New Orleans on the road and now they come back home for a long stretch at home and that includes a game against the Hawks next after playing the Hornets. The team got 41 points from LeBron James in the matchup with the Pelicans and that had James, the current superstar, against Anthony Davis, the man who should take that over when he is done. The team got 10 rebounds from Tristan Thompson, while Irving led the team in assists.
The Hornets have not been good by any stretch this season and James comes in after beating them down last season in four games in the playoffs when they were still the Bobcats and he was still in Miami. The Cavs looked great during their recent winning streak and now they are looking to get another one going after losing back to back games for the first time in a while. The team has pulled into some nice form despite the losses, as they were 5-7 when they started the eight game winning streak.
The loss against the Thunder last week was the first loss for the team this month and now they have a long stretch at home. The team plays at home until they matchup with the Miami Heat on Christmas and that is the first game for James in Miami since leaving the Heat. The team plays against the Magic on a back to back after the Heat game and then they will return against the Pistons. The Cavs have tough matchups with Memphis at home as well as Brooklyn and Atlanta coming up and those will be strong games for the team to learn from, especially with the Grizzlies one of the best in the west.
The Hornets come into the game struggling and they may look at trading Lance Stephenson, as things have not worked out so far this year. The team may have everyone available apart from Kemba Walker and Al Jefferson, as they have just six wins on the season. The team comes in after a loss against the Nets and they next will play against the Phoenix Suns on the schedule. The Hornets have not been good at all and they rank in the bottom half of the league in scoring, defense and rebounding.
No one expected a championship run, but after signing Stephenson and making the playoffs last year, Charlotte was expected to look better. The team now has the Cavs and they are looking for a big upset on the road, but after losing two in a row, the Cavs are unlikely to drop a third here. James is leading the Cavs in scoring and he has been very impressive over the past few weeks.
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