The Charlotte Hornets are headed north of the border on Friday, visiting the Toronto Raptors amid a stretch that has seen the Hornets lose five of their past six games.
That includes three discouraging losses in a row. Since March 21, Charlotte (18-54) has suffered a 35-point loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, a 17-point loss to the struggling Miami Heat and a seven-point loss to the Orlando Magic in a game that was tied after three quarters. The Hornets are guaranteed to finish with fewer than 30 wins for the third consecutive season and currently hold the league’s third-worst record.
While it hasn’t been the season coach Charles Lee and the Hornets hoped for, Lee is still firm in his belief that Charlotte is building a winning organization.
“The goal for us was to create a standard of competitiveness,” Lee said. “Create an environment of just work and obsession with daily improvement, practice days, weight room sessions, our diets, game days, all of it. Just loving the whole journey. The third part was like, building an environment of togetherness and a culture of togetherness because we go through this journey together. I think that all those goals are still in motion and I’m happy as hell with them.”
While LaMelo Ball is the team’s season-long scoring leader at 25.2 points per game, Miles Bridges has been carrying Charlotte’s offense the most in recent months. Bridges has led the Hornets in scoring 18 times in their past 30 games dating back to Jan. 27, including a career-high 46 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 7 and a game-winning 3-pointer against the San Antonio Spurs on Feb. 7. Brandon Miller was averaging 21 points per game before he went down for the season in January with a wrist injury.
The Raptors (26-47) entered this week on a skid, sustaining their fourth straight loss in a 123-89 rout by the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday. Toronto responded on Monday, however, beating the Washington Wizards 112-104 on the second leg of a back-to-back. That momentum carried into Wednesday night in Brooklyn. The Raptors put forth one of their best efforts of the season, beating the Nets 116-86 in a convincing wire-to-wire effort.
RJ Barrett leads Toronto in scoring at 21.3 points per game. Scottie Barnes is the team’s engine on both ends of the floor, averaging 19.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game. Barnes also averages a combined 2.5 steals and blocks per game, leading the team.
“Everything that Scottie does is very important for us and we as a team,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said. “We go as far as Scottie goes. I’m encouraging him, he’s our leader. He sets the tone on the defensive end. He sets the tone with the way he plays, with ball movement, with force. He’s constantly improving in all aspects of his game.”
Immanuel Quickley also contributes 17.4 points per game in his 29 appearances so far this season, while Jakob Poeltl averages 14.4 points and a team-high 9.6 rebounds per game for Toronto.
