If the Philadelphia 76ers are going to snap their long home losing streak, they may not get a better chance than when the Charlotte Hornets visit Friday. The 76ers, off since a Monday home loss to Boston, are 0-13 at Wells Fargo Center this season and are six losses shy from matching the NBA record set by Dallas back in 1993-94. The Hornets are an NBA-worst 1-10 on the road and have lost their last six road contests.
The Sixers were on the verge of a third win and first at home last Saturday but blew an 18-point lead with eight minutes to play against Memphis, and Philadelphia looked like it didn't come to play in Monday's 105-87 loss to Boston. Charlotte has lost four straight and 14 of 16 after squandering a late lead to Phoenix on Wednesday, and the Hornets have failed to close out multiple games. “We’re in these games and giving ourselves a chance to win," Charlotte guard Kemba Walker told reporters. "But it’s a pattern – we’re losing the same way multiple times. We’ve got to kick it up another notch in tough situations.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, SportSouth (Charlotte), CSN Philadelphia
ABOUT THE HORNETS (6-19): Charlotte got 28 points and 10 rebounds from Al Jefferson and 27 points and seven assists from Walker in the 111-106 loss to the Suns. Things are so bad that Charlotte is already shopping Lance Stephenson after signing him to a three-year, $27 million contract in the offseason. Stephenson is averaging 10.2 points, but his shooting percentages across the board are way down from last season when he played in Indiana and much like Kemba Walker, he prefers to have his hands on the ball.
ABOUT THE 76ERS (2-22): After shooting a combined 1-of-12 in his previous two games, rookie Nerlens Noel is coming off his best outing, scoring a career-high 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting with eight rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks against the Celtics. "Early in the season I would just get it and go," Noel told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "Now I think I've slowed down. I'm starting to take more hits on my first move and that is now leading to a counter-move." Philadelphia will need more production from Noel, as the club is last in the league in scoring (91.3) and field-goal percentage (.411).
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The 76ers scored below 90 points for the third time in the last four games against Boston and for 11th time this season.
2. Walker is shooting 38.2 percent from the floor – fourth lowest in the NBA among players with 300 shots – and he was 0-for-7 in the fourth quarter of the collapse against the Suns.
3. The 76ers are shooting a league-low 29.8 percent from beyond the arc – which would be the second-lowest percentage for a full season since the 2002-03 season (Hornets 2011-12, .295).
PREDICTION: Hornets 88, 76ers 82