HORNETS: OUT – Mark Williams (L Foot), Nick Richards (R Rib), Daquan Jeffries (R Hand), QUESTIONABLE – Tre Mann (Low Back)

NETS: OUT – Bojan Bogdanovic (L Foot), Nic Claxton (Low Back), Day’Ron Sharpe (L Hamstring) PROBABLE – Dorian Finney-Smith (L Ankle), Ziaire Williams (R Hip)

This is Charlotte’s second “Cup” match of the season. To find out more about how the NBA Cup works, click HERE

This will be the second NBA Cup game of the season for the Charlotte Hornets and Brooklyn Nets, who both lost their respective first matchups against the Orlando Magic and the New York Knicks. Whoever loses tonight’s matchup can almost kiss their hopes of advancing past the group stage goodbye.

As the Knicks and Magic have already racked up two wins in as many games, it seems that one of them will finish first in the group. That only leaves one wild card spot in the quarterfinals, and it will belong to the best second-placed team in the Eastern Conference groups.

Considering their recent form, the Hornets should have a shot at beating Brooklyn. LaMelo and Co. followed up their win against Milwaukee with a competitive loss in Cleveland. Meanwhile, the Nets have only won one of their last six contests, largely because they played either Boston, New York, or Cleveland in each of their five losses.

One key to beating Brooklyn could be Charlotte’s strong rebounding. Charles Lee’s ball club has gathered 46.2 boards per game so far, which puts them in fifth place in the NBA. The Nets only get 39.4 rebounds, ranking them dead last. Big men Nic Claxton and Day’Ron Sharpe will both miss tonight’s matchup, which offers even more rebounding opportunities than usual.

In their absence Jordi Fernandez has opted to start a relatively small starting-five, using Ben Simmons and Dorian Finney-Smith as centers. The only nominal big man left, 20-year-old sophomore Noah Clowney, will probably see some minutes off the bench against Moussa Diabate.

Key Matchup: Defending the three-point-line

Under their new head coach, the Nets have shot the 6th most threes per game. Now that their non-shooting big men are out, there will be an even bigger focus on the arc. Almost everybody remaining in Brooklyn’s matchday squad can hit a high percentage of threes at a large volume.

Cam Thomas (39.2% on 7.3 attempts), Dennis Schröder (42.6% on 6.7 attempts), Cameron Johnson (38.1% on 7.5 attempts), and Dorian Finney-Smith (39.7% on 5.7 attempts) will pose the biggest threat from the perimeter. It will be on the likes of Josh Green, Cody Martin, and Brandon Miller to keep these guys from catching fire.

Charlotte’s next game is at home against the Detroit Pistons on November 21th at 7pm EST.

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