NBA Matchups: January 26

Two early games, so I just hit some of the player stuff quickly. I’ll be on both shows today as well.

PHI @ CHA | ORL @ CLE | IND @ ATL | POR @ BOS | LAL @ CHI | MEM @ HOU | GSW @ MIN

Philadelphia 76ers (front end) at Charlotte Hornets

Team Totals: 76ers 112, Hornets 115.5

Injury Report: Joel Embiid (O, knee), Collin Sexton (P, hamstring), Paul George (O, knee)

76ers projected starters: Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Kelly Oubre Jr., Dominick Barlow, Andre Drummond

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

Nurse quotes: Said they needed a little more variety in their offense, said they were trying to really stop Brunson and the Nets made some shots, said he didn’t think the Knicks were going to play smaller.

Lee quotes: Said he’s proud of the team for grinding it out despite not being too sharp at times, said they were able to get some rebounds when they needed, said Miller has “command” when he has the ball in his hands, said Miller is just seeing the right play and is getting more comfortable, said he likes Moussa starting to let them switch more, said “all five guys are committed to rebounding.”

Stats and Notes: 

*No Joel Embiid and the 76ers were kind enough not to give us Q tags on a B2B. In their last 18 games, the Hornets are first in offensive rating thanks to a superb 29.7 putback points per 100 misses on the boards. They’re only 11th in halfcourt offense, and they’re not even running much as an average transition team. Over this span, the 76ers are the league’s worst team at limiting opponent O boards, and they have been beaten inside a ton. They’ve been solid overall at limiting guards, and adding Oubre should help that some, too. For the Hornets defensively, they’re also the second-best team at limiting O boards from opponents, and they have been limiting C&S stuff, too. This Hornets team looks like it’s headed for the play-in.

*Last week, Nick Nurse said that he liked the move of starting Andre Drummond and giving Adem Bona the lion’s share of the minutes (22/26 last game). This matchup is terrible for centers anyway, so I wouldn’t be too aggressive on going after Drummond or Bona.

*Tyrese Maxey gets a great matchup here. The Hornets have an OK transition defense, but they don’t have many great options to limit him. Kelly Oubre Jr. will play a ton and get a tough matchup with Brandon Miller on both ends.

*LaMelo Ball should be in an OK spot against VJ Edgecombe. The 76ers don’t really send much help to VJ, and they give up a ton of PNR handler points.

*Brandon Miller is also an option against Oubre, and Moussa Diabate gets a favorable spot against a 76ers team that does funnel stuff to the rim (they do with/without Embiid).

Great matchups: Moussa Diabate, LaMelo Ball, Tyrese Maxey

Good matchups: Miles Bridges, VJ Edgecombe

Bad matchups: Andre Drummond

Orlando Magic at Cleveland Cavaliers