Will injured Charlotte Hornets Jeremy Lamb, Marvin Williams be ready to play?

Injured Charlotte Hornets Jeremy Lamb and Marvin Williams fully participated in shootaround Monday morning, and both believe they’ll be able to play against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Lamb left Saturday’s home victory over the Los Angeles Clippers with tightness in his right hamstring. After treatment Sunday (cold tub, massage, Epsom salts, etc.), Lamb said he thinks he’ll be ready for the 7 p.m. tip-off versus the 10-6 Timberwolves at Spectrum Center.

“I feel good,” said Lamb, second on the team in scoring at 16 points per game. He is now coming off the bench, with Nic Batum’s return from a torn ligament in his left elbow.

Coach Steve Clifford said the team will be extra careful about monitoring Lamb, since aggravating a hamstring injury could put him out for weeks.

Williams suffered a left quad contusion against the Clippers, while defending a drive by guard Austin Rivers; Williams took a knee to his thigh on the play, and said he’s still quite sore Monday, but plans to play.

“When I got (running) around it felt better, but when I’m sitting still, that’s when it bothers me the most.” Williams said. “I’ll just do whatever I can to keep it as warm as possible.”

Williams draws a particularly tough defensive assignment against the Wolves, guarding multifaceted scorer Karl-Anthony Towns (20.8 points per game). Towns is the Wolves’ starting center, but he transcends positions with his ability to score all over the court. He’s a 37 percent shooter from 3-point range.

“With guys like that , you’re not going to stop him from scoring. He’s too talented,” Williams said. “He can do a lot of things: Put the ball on the floor, shoot from the 3-point line, and he can also post. You’ve got to limit his easy buckets, but he’s going to score; he’s too good not to.”

MKG’s presence

The Hornets were without small forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist in the first meeting with the Wolves, a 112-94 loss in Minneapolis. Having Kidd-Gilchrist and Batum tonight is important, because the Wolves have one of the best combinations of wing players in the NBA in Andrew Wiggins (19.3 points per game) and Jimmy Butler (16.5).

The other options defensively against Wiggins and Butler would likely be Dwayne Bacon and Treveon Graham.

Monk on sitting

Hornets rookie Malik Monk didn’t play Saturday against the Clippers. He’d played in each of the previous 14 games this season, although his minutes had slipped in the two games prior to the Clippers (a total of 18 minutes.)

Clifford chose instead to play point guard Michael Carter-Williams, who is 6-6 and a strong defender. When asked about not playing Saturday, Monk sounded stoic.

“I just took at as ‘I’m a rookie, and that’s going to happen.’” Monk said. “I’ve got to be prepared when my name is called, and keep working like I am now.”

This story was originally published November 20, 2017 at 12:33 PM with the headline "Will injured Charlotte Hornets Jeremy Lamb, Marvin Williams be ready to play?."