After their meltdown against the Washington Wizards on Sunday, the Charlotte Hornets’ road to their first playoff berth in years just got harder than what it had to be.
Tonight, the Hornets’ season is on the line as they face the Indiana Pacers in the Play-In tournament. The Winner of tonights game will face the loser of the Celtics and Wizards game earlier tonight. The loser goes home.
Coming into tonights game, the Hornets are three point underdogs and rightly so. Charlotte has suffered some heartbreaking losses last week to close out the season. Their failure to close games isn’t anything new because this is a young Hornets team trying to figure out how to win and win consistently.
Key Pacer Out For Tonight’s Game
Pacers guard Caris LeVert is out for tonight due to Health and Safety Protocols according to the Athletic’s Shams Charania. Neither LeVert nor the Pacers have announced the cause of the protocol. LeVert’s placement doesn’t necessarily mean that he tested positive for COVID but nonetheless he expected to remain in protocols for 10 to 14 days.
In LeVert, Indiana will be missing their second leading scorer, averaging 20.7 points, 4.9 assists and four rebounds while shooting 44.3% from the field since joining the team in March.
Whether or not the Hornets can capitalize off of this development will be pivotal for keeping their season alive.
Catch the Hornets and the Pacers as the play in opener tonight at 6:30 on TNT