76ers at Hornets
The Charlotte Hornets look to rebound after their first loss of the season when they host the winless Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night. The Hornets began the campaign with impressive road victories against Milwaukee and Miami before a disjointed defensive effort led to a 104-98 loss to Boston in their home opener Saturday despite 29 points from Kemba Walker.
“When guys start making up their own stuff, you’ve got no shot against a good team,” Charlotte coach Steve Clifford told reporters after his team allowed Avery Bradley to score 31. “When things get tougher, you have to do what you’re supposed to do, and that’s not what we did.” The Hornets go after their sixth straight win and ninth in 10 against Philadelphia, which has lost three straight after coughing up an 18-point lead in a 103-101 setback against Orlando on Tuesday. The 76ers sat out power forward Jahlil Okafor, who is coming back from knee surgery, and are not expected to take rookie center Joel Embiid on the trip to Charlotte to avoid playing him back-to-back after the former Kansas standout missed the last two seasons with foot injuries. Philadelphia will play its first road game of the season and should have Okafor in the lineup on a minutes restriction.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSN Philadelphia, FSN Southeast (Charlotte)
ABOUT THE 76ERS (0-3): Philadelphia traded former second-round pick Jerami Grant to Oklahoma City on Tuesday for a conditional draft pick and forward Ersan Ilyasova, who did not play against Orlando. Hollis Thompson poured in 22 points for the 76ers on Tuesday and rookie Dario Saric registered 21 on 9-of-15 shooting after scoring just 10 and missing 17 of the 21 shots he attempted in the first two games. Veteran point guard Sergio Rodriguez is off to a solid start with his new team, averaging 12.7 points and 8.3 assists while draining 17-of-35 from the field with eight turnovers in 93 minutes.
ABOUT THE HORNETS (2-1): Walker is off to a strong start, averaging 23.3 points to go along with five assists, and has drained nine of his 20 attempts from 3-point range. The Connecticut product needs to get some help, though, as no one else is averaging more than 11 points through three games while guard Jeremy Lamb (strained hamstring) and center Roy Hibbert (knee soreness) are expected to miss Wednesday’s game. Frank Kaminsky scored 11 points in his first game of the season against Boston and Nicolas Batum, along with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, have totaled 33 apiece in three contests.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Okafor scored eight points in each of the first two games while playing about 16 minutes in both and could log more time on the court Wednesday.
2. Charlotte C Cody Zeller, who is averaging 10.7 points in the early going, signed a four-year, $56 million contract extension Monday.
3. Philadelphia G Nik Stauskas was 5-for-6 from the field in the season opener, but has missed 10 of his 13 shots in the last two.