Charlotte Hornets

Charlotte Hornets vs. Washington Wizards: What you need to know about Saturday’s game

The Charlotte Hornets expect to have Nic Batum, right, back for Saturday’s game against the Washington Wizards after he missed two games with a migraine.
The Charlotte Hornets expect to have Nic Batum, right, back for Saturday’s game against the Washington Wizards after he missed two games with a migraine. AP

7 p.m., Spectrum Center

TV: SportSouth. Radio: WFNZ-AM 610.

Projected Starters

Hornets

Wizards*

Pos, Player

PPG

RPG

Pos, Player

PPG

RPG

F, M. Kidd-Gilchrist

9.1

7.4

F, O. Porter

14.1

6.7

F, M. Williams

11.5

6.3

F, M. Morris

14.1

6.7

C, C. Zeller

10.3

6.6

C, M. Gortat

11.3

11.0

G, N. Batum

15.4

6.7

G, B. Beal

23.2

3.1

G, K. Walker

22.9

5.5 apg

G, J. Wall

23.2

10.7 apg

* Friday’s game not included

Matchup to Watch

Nic Batum vs. Bradley Beal: Expect Batum to get plenty of help, including from small forward Michael-Kidd Gilchrist, against dynamic scorer Beal.

Observations

▪ Wizards point guard John Wall, who’s from Raleigh, sprained his foot Wednesday against Dallas.

▪ The Hornets expect to have Batum back after he missed two games with a migraine.

Tap-ins

▪ Washington is 18-7 (entering Friday’s game against the Bulls) when all five starters score in double figures. They also all average double figures.

▪ In somewhat of a statistical anomaly, Wizards forwards Otto Porter and Markief Morris (14.1) and guards Bradley Beal and Wall (23.2) had the same scoring averages entering Friday’s game. Porter and Morris also had the same rebounding numbers (6.7).

Did you know?

Former N.C. State player and coach Sidney Lowe is a Wizards assistant.

David Scott

This story was originally published March 17, 2017 at 5:19 PM with the headline "Charlotte Hornets vs. Washington Wizards: What you need to know about Saturday’s game."

Sports Pass is your ticket to Charlotte sports
#ReadLocal

Get in-depth, sideline coverage of Charlotte area sports - only $1 a month

VIEW OFFER