Hornets Gameday: vs. the Portland Trail Blazers
5 p.m., Time Warner Cable Arena
TV: Fox Sports Southeast Radio: WFNZ-AM 610.
Projected Starters
Hornets | Blazers | |||||
Pos, Player | PPG | RPG | Pos, Player | PPG | RPG | |
G K. Walker | 15.3 | 2.6 | G D. Lillard | 27.5 | 3.3 | |
G N. Batum | 14.5 | 5.3 | G C. McCollum | 20.9 | 4.1 | |
F P. Hairston | 5.0 | 2.4 | F A. Aminu | 12.9 | 8.1 | |
F M. Williams | 10.4 | 8.1 | F M. Leonard | 8.6 | 4.4 | |
C A. Jefferson | 13.5 | 6.8 | C M. Plumlee | 10.1 | 7.8 | |
Matchup to Watch
Damian Lillard vs. Kemba Walker: The Trail Blazers blew up their roster over the summer, coinciding with LaMarcus Aldridge’s departure for San Antonio. Elite point guard Lillard is the core of the rebuild.
Observations
▪ Aldridge, now-Hornet Nic Batum, Wesley Matthews and Arron Afflalo all left the Trail Blazers after last season (all but Batum via free-agency).
▪ Now-Trail Blazer Gerald Henderson spent his first six NBA seasons in Charlotte and still considers the town his off-season home. He played Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs after missing several games with a hip injury.
Tap-ins
▪ The 5 p.m. home tipoff time was intended to avoid going head-to-head with the 1 p.m. telecast of the Carolina Panthers’ road game against the Tennessee Titans.
▪ The Hornets average 9.9 3-pointers per game this season, compared to 6.1 last season.
Did you know?
Former North Carolina Tar Heel Ed Davis grabbed 41 rebounds off the bench in his first five games with the Blazers. He’s the first Blazers reserve to do that since Kenny Carr in 1985.
Rick Bonnell
This story was originally published November 14, 2015 at 5:12 PM with the headline "Hornets Gameday: vs. the Portland Trail Blazers."