Hornets at Rockets
The Charlotte Hornets have trouble winning in Houston and will be without center Al Jefferson when they visit the Rockets on Wednesday. Houston has won the last seven meetings and the Hornets will have a hard time ending that streak without Jefferson, who suffered a groin injury during Monday’s overtime loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. Houston has lost back-to-back games to the San Antonio Spurs and Washington Wizards and is looking to get back on track against Charlotte.
Rockets guard James Harden had 33 points in the loss to Washington on Monday and is averaging 34.3 points over the last four games. Houston is trying to integrate recently acquired forward Josh Smith into the attack but he has scored just eight points on 3-of-13 shooting over the last two games. The Hornets have lost three straight following a four-game winning streak and have struggled on the road with a 3-11 mark.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, SportSouth (Charlotte), ROOT (Houston)
ABOUT THE HORNETS (10-22): Starting point guard Kemba Walker has averaged 35 points over the last two games and Charlotte would like to see backup point guard Gary Neal rediscover his stroke. Neal is 6-of-34 from the field over the last four games, including 1-of-14 from 3-point range, and breaking out of his slump would be timely with Jefferson out. Walker has been emerging as a bona fide scoring threat all season and has scored 20 or more points in eight of the past 11 games.
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (21-9): Houston had major ball-handling issues in the losses to the Spurs and Wizards as they committed 45 turnovers with Harden having 11 of them, including nine against San Antonio. Center Dwight Howard managed to collect just five rebounds in the loss to Washington after reaching double digits in all seven games since he returned from a knee injury. Forward Trevor Ariza is just 8-of-24 shooting over the past two games, including 3-of-14 from 3-point range.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Charlotte has dropped nine straight games in Houston.
2. Rockets swingman Corey Brewer is averaging 16.3 points and gone 13-of-22 from 3-point range in four games since being acquired from Minnesota.
3. Hornets G Lance Stephenson (pelvic sprain) is expected to miss his eighth straight game.