The Cavaliers get a very workable setup Monday night, and they need to treat it like one. Charlotte comes in banged up, missing three starters already and with Moussa Diabate listed as questionable, which leaves the Hornets scrambling for answers before tipoff.
That matters for Cleveland, because this is the kind of game that can’t slip away if the Cavs want to keep stacking wins and stay over .500. The last time they were under .500 in November was in the 2023-24 season, when they started 4-5 before rallying to finish as the #4 seed.
This one won’t be about that kind of comeback story. It’s about handling business.
The biggest pressure point is James Harden. After what the source described as an atrocious performance against the Knicks, this is the sort of matchup where he has to respond.
Charlotte has opened 3-7 and owns the lowest-scoring offense in the league, a reality tied to the departures of LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges and Kon Knueppel’s injury absence. If the Hornets are going to make this interesting, Harden will need to be the one who drags Cleveland through it.
He should have chances to do damage. The Hornets are expected to throw some combination of Sion James and Grayson Allen at him, and the numbers say Charlotte is still vulnerable even with a defense that ranks #9 in points allowed. They give up 110 a night, and Cleveland needs Harden to take advantage.
Peyton Watson is another player worth watching, but for a different reason. His defense has been a bright spot, yet his shot has gone cold in a way that stands out.
After hitting 40% from 3PT land in Denver last season, he is down to 18% from deep, and that comes on a career-high number of attempts. His 39.1% FG percentage is also the lowest it has ever been.
The source pointed out that 6-33 from distance is not going to cut it at all, and with one game in between the Knicks rematch on Wednesday, this is a chance for him to find a better rhythm.
There’s also the broader team question. Cleveland has only put together one full 48-minute effort all season, and that came against the Milwaukee Bucks in the Halloween game nine days ago. If the Cavs want to look like a playoff team in a crowded Eastern Conference, they have to finish games against weaker opponents instead of letting them hang around.
Charlotte’s injury list makes that even more important. Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, Dennis Schroder, and Grant Williams are all out, while Diabate remains questionable. That leaves Coby White and Grayson Allen as the top scoring options, and while both are capable veterans, this is still a group Cleveland should be able to push around.
The Cavs are only 1-3 on the road, so a clean win here would do more than pad the standings. It would quiet some of the noise, at least for a night.
The first of three meetings between Cleveland and Charlotte tips at 7:00 PM. Fans can watch John Michael and Brad Daugherty on DAZN, while out-of-town viewers can hear Eric Collins on NBA League Pass.
In Other News...
Hornets Already Face A Painful Truth About The LaMelo Ball Trade
When the Hornets moved on from LaMelo Ball, plenty of outside observers treated it as a sensible reset, the kind of decision a team makes when durability concerns start to outweigh the upside. Bill Simmons has since pointed out how quickly that logic has been tested, with Charlottes on-court results sliding in the months after the deal and the early praise for the move looking a lot less secure than it did at the time.
The bigger issue is that the trade was supposed to give the Hornets a cleaner path forward, but the fit and mood around the roster have not made that easy to see. Simmons also noted that the player Charlotte brought back in the deal does not look especially settled there, while Ball has settled in nicely in Minnesota and kept producing even with Anthony Edwards sidelined. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets Trade Idea Puts A Young Frontcourt Piece In Play
The Lakers have spent the offseason trying to shore up their backup center spot, a need that has lingered even after adding Walker Kessler and Kevon Looney. With Kesslers durability a concern, Los Angeles is still looking around the market for more help in the middle, and that has led to some speculative trade chatter that reaches all the way to Charlotte.
One of the more interesting ideas floating out there would involve Naz Reid and Tidjane Salan, which is enough to make Hornets fans pause because Salan remains one of the younger frontcourt pieces in the organization. For Charlotte, any proposal involving a developing big man naturally comes with questions about timing and long-term value, and the fact that this kind of deal is even being discussed shows how active the market could get if the Lakers keep pressing for another center. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets Season Just Took Another Brutal Turn With Young Core Hit Again
Charlottes season has already been defined by attrition, and the latest injury news only deepens the hole. The Hornets have spent much of the year trying to piece together an offense while key young pieces have been in and out of the lineup, leaving the team short on firepower and with little realistic path to a playoff push in the near term.
For a roster that was supposed to lean on its emerging core, the timing is especially rough. With the losses piling up, the Hornets may end up spending more time thinking about draft position than the standings while they wait for healthier days, and the next stretch will say plenty about how patient the organization is willing to be. [Read more 🡒]