Suns at Hornets
Two teams that are experiencing a lot of losing square off when the Phoenix Suns visit the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday. Phoenix has lost six consecutive games and the latest setback was the most cruel as Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the Suns to a 96-94 defeat on Monday. The Hornets fell behind 21-0 against Cleveland in a 97-88 defeat on Monday that marked their 13th loss in 15 games.
Charlotte point guard Kemba Walker scored 24 points in the loss to Cleveland for his third 20-point outing this month after not recording a single one in November. The Suns will likely be without their point guard in leading scorer Goran Dragic for the third straight game due to lower back soreness. Phoenix’s Eric Bledsoe figures to be matched up against Walker, and he had 22 points and 11 rebounds when the teams met in mid-November.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Arizona (Phoenix), SportSouth (Charlotte)
ABOUT THE SUNS (12-14): Backup point guard Isaiah Thomas discovered his rhythm with 20 points and knocked down four 3-pointers against the Bucks after struggling in his first two games since returning from an ankle injury. Thomas averaged eight points on 5-of-20 shooting over the previous two games but found his groove with 11 fourth-quarter points against the Bucks, though the game’s ending spoiled his contributions. “This one hurts, they all hurt,” Thomas told reporters. “You felt like you did enough to win a game and at the buzzer they make a crazy shot.”
ABOUT THE HORNETS (6-18): Big man Cody Zeller is listed as questionable with a broken nose suffered during Monday’s loss to Cleveland. Zeller was involved with a scramble for a loose ball with Cleveland center Anderson Varejao and he landed hard on the floor and the top of his nose was swollen. “Varejao went in on me and I fell,” Zeller told reporters. “My face and my nose hit the floor. Then he landed on top of me.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Charlotte recorded a 103-95 victory on Nov. 14 to snap Phoenix’s five-game winning streak in the series.
2. Suns F Markieff Morris scored 25 points against Milwaukee for his seventh 20-point outing of the season.
3. Hornets SF Jeff Taylor has finished serving a 24-game suspension for a domestic-violence incident but coach Steve Clifford has no immediate plans to activate him for a contest.