It’s another mega-slate! I’ll be in the projection streets all day and will have plenty of content, so we’ll just be hitting the macro notes today. You guys don’t want to read 15K words during the holidays, right?
HOU @ CHA | UTA @ CLE | BOS @ ORL | SAS @ PHI | MIN @ ATL | BKN @ MIA | TOR @ NYK | MIL @ CHI | LAC @ MEM | WAS @ OKC | POR @ DAL | PHX @ DEN | IND @ GSW | DET @ LAL
Houston Rockets (back end) at Charlotte Hornets
Team Totals: Rockets 112.3, Hornets 106.3
Injury Report: Rockets on a B2B, Brandon Miller (O, ankle)
Rockets projected starters: Fred VanVleet, Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Sengun
Hornets projected starters: LaMelo Ball, Josh Green, Cody Martin, Miles Bridges, Mark Williams
Udoka quotes: Said they’re playing faster and teams are leaving them open, said they got a little relaxed in the fourth against the Pelicans, said Reed was passing up shots at times and he’s starting to understand the physicality of the game, said they want to mix in some off-ball scoring for Sengun to get the guards to create more, said Tate was very switchable for them against the Raptors, said Whitmore gave them a nice boost off the bench, said FVV could’ve had jitters in Toronto, said the Raps really packed the paint on them.
Lee quotes: Said they were able to fight even without their main guys, said “it’s a joy to watch” Micic because he had an opportunity to play more.
Stats and Notes:
*The Rockets continue their excellent run on the defensive end, as they remain second in the NBA. Nothing has really changed as they’re the league’s best at taking away C&S stuff. The Hornets are in the middle of the pack for C&S and do like to get 3-point volume up, but part of that is because LaMelo Ball has so many off-dribble treys. The Rockets are still one of the better transition defenses in the league, but the Hornets are below average there and have the sixth-highest halfcourt rate. Unless the Rockets are resting some guys for the B2B, the Hornets probably aren’t scoring 100 here. On the other side, the Hornets are getting killed on defense, as they’ve slipped to 27th in the halfcourt. They’re a disaster on the boards and teams have been able to hit spot-up stuff against them with ease. They do take away transition scoring quite well, and the Rockets have improved there this season at seventh in transition scoring.
Great matchups: Alperen Sengun (might get a Q tag for knee), Jabari Smith Jr.
Good matchups: LaMelo Ball (only because his teammates are in such a bad spot), Fred VanVleet (might get a Q), Jalen Green
Bad matchups: The non-LaMelo Hornets
Utah Jazz at Cleveland Cavaliers
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