NBA Matchups: March 7

CLE @ CHA | UTA @ TOR | MEM @ DAL | MIN @ MIA | POR @ OKC | PHX @ DEN | SAS @ SAC | NYK @ LAC

Cleveland Cavaliers at Charlotte Hornets (front end)

Team Totals: Cavs 125.3, Hornets 108.8

Injury Report: LaMelo Ball (P, illness), Josh Green (P, illness), Jusuf Nurkic (P, back), Nick Smith Jr. (P, quad), Mark Williams (P, foot)

Cavs projected starters: Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Max Strus, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen

Hornets projected starters: LaMelo Ball, Nick Smith Jr., Josh Green, Miles Bridges, Jusuf Nurkic

Atkinson quotes: Said they had six stops at the end of the game to go with big shots to get a comeback win, said “zone is the talent equalizer” and Spo had guys playing over their head, said they were trying to get Hunter in the high post against the zone at times and it’s tougher to find the pockets, said a close game against Miami helped them in the playoffs, said they didn’t really celebrate clinching a playoff spot.

Lee quotes: Said he liked how Baugh and Bridges were able to get to their spots by being aggressive, said they are getting too focused on the misses on offense, said they had good process on defense but gave up too many offensive rebounds, said he “found other moments” to go with Moussa Diabate.

Stats and Notes:

*This is going to be ugly with offensive mismatches. Since the break, the Cavs are second in offense and the Hornets are a disaster on defense at 99.2 points per 100 (83.5 halfcourt). In that span, the Cavs have been playing some of their best defense at third in halfcourt defense, while the Hornets have lost their ways on defense. Teams are running all over Charlotte and they are really getting killed on the boards.

*The Hornets have been pretty aggressive with how they handle lead guys, and the blowout is basically a lock here. This isn’t the spot for Donovan Mitchell against an OK defender in Josh Green. Darius Garland does get the softer matchup with Nick Smith Jr., and it was nice to see him get back on track. I still like the frontcourt guys much more.

*Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen get the better matchups here with the Hornets getting crushed inside all year. Jusuf Nurkic has been a disaster all year on the defensive end, and we’ve seen some bad paint defense regardless of who’s down there in the paint.

*LaMelo Ball’s minutes have been full when the games are close, and he’s also been normal from a usage rate standpoint. He’s been struggling a bit with his inside scoring, and his team being unable to score has cut his upside in assists. Still, if the Hornets hang around in this game, it almost has to be LaMelo going off. I don’t hate the idea of playing LaMelo with some Cavs and just hoping the Hornets magically fix their offense for a game. LaMelo is likely just going to sit out tomorrow anyway, but I would keep an eye out on that P illness tag.

*Miles Bridges gets a horrible matchup with Evan Mobley set to pick him up for a good bit of his minutes, and the Cavs have been able to take away interior scoring lately. Bridges has been scoring at the basket a ton recently with 46 rim points in his last four games, so this should be tough sledding against the strong rim protection on the Cavs right now.

*Jusuf Nurkic also gets an awful matchup, and he’s likely not playing much on an illness tag anyway. Moussa Diabate could get a decent bit of minutes in garbage time to make him a viable punt play.

Great matchups: Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley

Good matchups: Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, LaMelo Ball (if it’s close)

Bad matchups: Miles Bridges, Jusuf Nurkic

Utah Jazz at Toronto Raptors (front end)