NBA Matchups: April 17

CHA @ ORL | GSW @ PHX

Charlotte Hornets at Orlando Magic

Team Totals: Hornets 111, Magic 107.5

Injury Report: Moussa Diabate (Q, hip), Jonathan Isaac (Q, knee)

Hornets projected starters: LaMelo Ball, Kon Knueppel, Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges, Moussa Diabate

Magic projected starters: Jalen Suggs, Desmond Bane, Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero, Wendell Carter Jr.

Offensive Ranks: Hornets fifth (12th halfcourt), Magic 18th (17th halfcourt)

Defensive Ranks: Hornets 11th (18th halfcourt), Magic 14th (19th halfcourt)

Season Series: 3-1 Hornets

Noteworthy Missed Games: Brandon Miller (1 missed), Coby White (3), Grant Williams (3), Franz Wagner (3), Anthony Black (1), Wendell Carter Jr. (1), Jalen Suggs (3)

Lee quotes: Said the team can just find a way to win and that’s where they have had the most growth this year, said Coby is a “trustworthy ball handler” for them, said Sion James had a “big-time inbounds” play late in the game, said Bridges took on so many matchups and he “embraced the mindset” of guarding the top options.

Mosley quotes: Said they had the fight and just didn’t make enough shots, said they missed too many FTAs and they missed too many great looks, said they turned it over too many times and losing the possession game cost them, said the 76ers were swarming Paolo and they packed the paint against them, said he’ll see how Franz is doing after the game, said they’re looking at it to get one more opportunity.

Team stats and notes:

*The Magic are just in a tailspin, and there are so many problems that they can’t fix. Since the Hornets got their season on track, they’ve smashed the Magic with a +51 differential over their last three games. The Hornets won 130-111 a month ago, but the Magic didn’t have Wendell Carter Jr., Anthony Black, or Franz Wagner. Still, Orlando is getting beaten in transition way too much, and they don’t own the boards like they used to. They also aren’t the same paint defense and are slightly below average on the season. This should be easy for the Hornets. The Hornets just continue to crush on the boards and rank first by far in ORB% in the halfcourt over the last month. The Magic are also in the bottom six for transition frequency allowed, so there are just so many advantages for the Hornets here.

Player stats and notes:

*LaMelo Ball is going to see a ton of Jalen Suggs and Anthony Black in this spot. LaMelo has been just OK with a 19/7/8 line over 28.3 MPG despite poor shooting from deep. He’s playing full minutes and not fouling as much, either. LaMelo was also very aggressive against Davion Mitchell and the Heat with 17 points on his 17 drives. Expect LaMelo to have a field day even against tough 1-on-1 defense.

*Brandon Miller had some decent stats against the Magic with a 20/2/4 line over 30.5 MPG. He is playing off-ball more because of LaMelo getting pushed up on minutes, and it’s led to his drives taking a hit to attack the defense. It was Desmond Bane guarding him during the regular season, but that was likely because of no Franz Wagner. It should be Franz in this spot, making this a bit of an undesirable spot for Miller.

*Miles Bridges gets the best matchup here. He’ll get Paolo Banchero on both ends. He saw the Paolo matchup in all four games, and that resulted in just 13/7/2 over 30.3 MPG. Still, Bridges played 43 minutes against the Heat, and they’re really going to need the wing defense, which means he’s likely getting pushed up a ton here. This is a pretty good spot to attack.

*Kon Knueppel was a disaster against the Heat, and he was so bad that it sounds like ROY voters are changing to Cooper Flagg (ballots due today). This matchup is not a great one for him, and he’s been terrible against the Magic at just 13/6/3 over 23.7 minutes per game. Coby White is just a more valuable piece, and Coby almost certainly has to cut into him because of the size on the wings for the Magic. If you wanted to play Kon in a buy-low spot, I certainly wouldn’t do it with Coby.