The Charlotte Hornets, who are enjoying a period of offensive diversity, figure to need multiple options when they oppose the visiting Portland Trail Blazers on Friday.
The Trail Blazers have a quick turnaround after their defense excelled in a 101-79 road victory over the Orlando Magic on Thursday.
Portland owns its second three-game winning streak of the season. It was just the third time an opponent failed to score at least 100 points against the Blazers this campaign, and the other two times, the foe had 98 points.
“Just willing to scrap and fight,” Trail Blazers center Robert Williams III said.
Portland coach Chauncey Billups added of his team’s performance, “Thought it was a masterpiece. I really did. We locked in. They missed a lot of shots, but I thought it was because of what we did. I thought we sped them up a little bit.”
Anfernee Simons had 21 points to lead five Trail Blazers in double figures, though Scoot Henderson saw his streak of double-digit games end at five as he had just four points in 14 minutes off the bench.
The Hornets own a 4-4 record in January after winning only once in 12 games last month.
Charlotte had a season-best three-game winning streak end Wednesday with a 132-120 loss to the host Memphis Grizzlies. The Hornets fell despite receiving a career-high 38 points from center Mark Williams.
“Mark is an ultimate team guy, and he’s trying to do everything he can to impact winning,” Hornets coach Charles Lee said. “We’re all happy for him to hit that career high. Next time, we hope it’s in a win.”
The 38 points in a game ties for the third most by a Hornets center in franchise history. Mark Williams shot 14-for-18 from the field and made 10 of 13 free-throw attempts.
“(My confidence) is continuing to go up every game,” Mark Williams said. “Credit to my teammates for trusting me, trusting me with the ball and being able to make plays. Finding them, them finding me, so it’s just working well right now.”
Mark Williams has reached the 24-point level in three of the past five games. His contributions have bumped up since center Nick Richards was traded to the Phoenix Suns last week in exchange for guard Josh Okogie and three draft picks.
Charlotte guard LaMelo Ball had a streak of four consecutive games with nine or more assists end when he logged six in Memphis. Still, his versatile contributions on offense have been a boost to the team.
“It just shows that we’re trusting the pass, trusting each other and doing it for 48 minutes,” Lee said. “He has grown tremendously and bringing all these guys along with him.”
Miles Bridges also has provide a recent spark for Charlotte, scoring 20 or more points in six of the eight games this month. Some of the uptick in production has corresponded with a season-ending injury to Brandon Miller.
“We’re getting the production that we all expected from (Bridges) early in the year and what we know he’s capable of doing,” Lee said.
The Hornets will need to be attentive on defense after yielding more than 130 points for the second time this season on Wednesday.
Charlotte guard Seth Curry was limping in the Memphis game due to a sprained right ankle, but he was listed as probable to oppose the Trail Blazers. Ball (sprained right wrist) and Bridges (lower back spasms) were considered questionable.
The teams will meet for the first time this season, with the Trail Blazers having won four of their past five matchups against the Hornets.
–Field Level Media
