Hornets at Knicks
The New York Knicks made a strong effort at playing spoiler on Sunday only to fall just short in a 92-87 loss to the Indiana Pacers. The Knicks will get another chance to throw a wrench into the Eastern Conference postseason seedings when they host the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday.
New York’s strong effort on Sunday is more impressive when considering that starters Carmelo Anthony (rest), Kristaps Porzingis (shoulder) and Jose Calderon (knee) all sat out. Porzingis, who has missed the last three games, refuted the notion that he is done for the season but does not plan to play in any of the last five regular season games unless the shoulder is 100 percent. The Hornets are hoping to turn their fortunes around and avoid a sweep on a three-game road trip after coming up short against the top two teams in the East – Cleveland and Toronto. The consecutive losses dropped Charlotte into sixth place in the East, one game behind Miami and Boston for fourth and 1 1/2 back of third-place Atlanta.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Southeast (Charlotte), MSG (New York)
ABOUT THE HORNETS (44-33): Charlotte is 16-22 on the road and would like to jump up to at least fourth place to ensure homecourt advantage in the first round with three of its remaining five regular-season games away from home. The Hornets shot 36.4 percent in the 96-90 loss at Toronto on Tuesday to drop back-to-back games for the first time since late January and were missing starting guard Nicolas Batum (knee). The veteran Frenchman suffered a strained knee in Sunday’s loss at Cleveland and is considered day-to-day.
ABOUT THE KNICKS (31-47): Porzingis is one of the few bright spots in another lost season for New York and is averaging 14.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in his rookie campaign. The Knicks are being understandably cautious with the 20-year-old Latvian, who has played his way into franchise building block status. “I’m young and I always want to be on the floor,” Porzingis told reporters. “At the same time, I want to be smart about this. Nothing really to gain the last few games but I think I’ll be back for the last two, three games hopefully. But it’s not my decision at the end of the day.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Knicks SF Cleanthony Early is 3-of-16 from the field in two games since returning from a gunshot wound to his right knee.
2. Hornets G Jeremy Lin started in place of Batum on Tuesday and scored 21 points.
3. Charlotte has taken two of the three meetings this season but fell 102-94 in its previous trip to New York on Nov. 17.