Hornets at Suns
The Charlotte Hornets are starting to pull themselves out of a lengthy funk with wins in two of the last three games and will try to make it three of four when they visit the Phoenix Suns on Thursday. The Hornets suffered through a stretch of 12 losses in 13 games before heading to the West Coast, where they managed to outlast the Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Lakers.
Charlotte's competitive streak goes back to the first game after the All-Star break, when it lost in overtime at Detroit, and includes an overtime setback at the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday sandwiched between the wins over the Kings and Lakers. The Hornets are down to the last two stops on a seven-game road trip that began before the break and can look forward to a stretch of nine of 12 at home beginning next week. The Suns did not put up much of a fight in a 130-112 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday, which marked the third time in the last 10 games they surrendered at least 130 points. "We're still trying to figure ourselves out," said Phoenix veteran forward Jared Dudley, according to the Arizona Republic. "It's going to be like that this year. It could be even like that next year. We're working on different situations (with our young players) so this right here is really like an experiment."
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FSN Southeast (Charlotte), FSN Arizona
ABOUT THE HORNETS (26-34): Kemba Walker led the way with 30 points in Tuesday's 109-104 triumph - his third 30-plus effort in four games since the break - and came away feeling good about his team's performance on both ends. "We made plays down the stretch, defensively, I think," Walker told reporters. "Even though (the Lakers) made some incredible shots, I thought we did a great job at just being locked in, especially in the fourth quarter, which is one of the more important quarters. We were locked in, we were tied together, made some huge plays offensively, as well. Just all around, it was a great effort." The win was also notable for the return of center Cody Zeller, who played 18 minutes off the bench after sitting out 13 of the previous 14 games with a quad injury.
ABOUT THE SUNS (18-42): Phoenix coach Earl Watson is tired of watching his young players get knocked around on the court and decided to say something about it after shooting guard Devin Booker was the target of some physical play on Tuesday. "We have to find someone in free agency or the first chance we get who can protect our top offensive players," Watson told reporters. "That has to happen. If not, (Booker) is going to see a lot of elbows. It's the reason Kobe (Bryant) went out and got Ron Artest (now Metta World Peace) and Matt Barnes. It's the reason why (Michael) Jordan went out and got guys who could protect him." Booker managed nine points on 3-of-11 shooting in the loss to mark the first time since Dec. 28 that he failed to reach double figures.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Hornets SG Nicolas Batum went 8-of-13 from 3-point range against the Clippers on Sunday but slumped to 1-of-9 in the same arena against the Lakers on Tuesday.
2. Phoenix veteran C Tyson Chandler and veteran PG Brandon Knight each sat out the last three games as the team looks at younger players.
3. The teams split the season series in each of the last two campaigns.