Suns at Hornets
The Charlotte Hornets are trying to creep back to .500 and will go for their third consecutive win when they host the Phoenix Suns on Saturday. Charlotte is hanging out in the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference and will try to take advantage of the Suns with a three-game road trip starting on Sunday.
Charlotte went 2-4 on a recently-completed road trip but came home with some momentum after knocking off the San Antonio Spurs in the finale and opened a two-game homestand by racing past the Sacramento Kings 114-95 on Thursday. "We have to get the ones at home because we play better here," Hornets small forward Miles Bridges told reporters after the team improved to 15-8 at home on Thursday. "We have to steal some on the road, but we've been playing well at home." Charlotte stole one on the road with a 119-113 victory at Phoenix on Jan. 6 - part of a stretch with nine losses in the last 11 games for the Suns. Phoenix was crushed 131-97 at Indiana in the opener of a four-game road trip on Tuesday but gave the East-leading Toronto Raptors a fight in a 111-109 setback on Thursday.
TV: 5 p.m. ET, FS Arizona (Phoenix), FS Southeast (Charlotte)
ABOUT THE SUNS (11-35): Phoenix is a young team trying to earn some respect from both opponents and referees, and second-year swingman Josh Jackson took it upon himself to fight for his team on Thursday. Jackson, who recorded seven points on 3-of-4 shooting in the loss, was ejected in the fourth quarter after drawing a pair of technical fouls for arguing with the officials. "A lot of frustration, a lot of calls that should've been called that weren't, but I felt like it was my job to step up and say something for my teammates," Jackson told reporters. "I felt like somebody should've gotten a technical foul because that was ridiculous. Somebody should’ve said something."
ABOUT THE HORNETS (21-23): Charlotte had four reserves score in double figures on Thursday and gave the credit for the win to the bench. "We got off to a poor start and that's on all five starters, but the bench was tremendous tonight ... they really came in and gave us a boost on both ends," forward Marvin Williams told reporters. "They were great offensively and really, really good defensively. Once the starters were able to come back in, we kind of fed off of their momentum and pulled away from (Sacramento)." Bridges and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist lead the reserves with 15 points apiece.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Suns SG Devin Booker scored 30 points on Thursday after managing eight on Tuesday in his return from a back injury.
2. Hornets C Willy Hernangomez matched a career high with 16 rebounds on Thursday.
3. Charlotte took the last four in the series.