When: February 21, 2016; 6:00 PM EST
Where: Barclays Center; Brooklyn, NY
TV: YES Network
Radio: WFAN 660 AM
Somehow, things are looking up for the Brooklyn Nets under their new general manager Sean Marks. He was hired on Thursday, right before the trade deadline, just a day before the Nets beat down the Knicks 109-98 at Barclays Center. Then, on Saturday, in his first official move as GM, Marks waived much-maligned forward Andrea Bargnani. It’s been a pretty good couple of days for the Nets, who, according to the New York Post‘s Brian Lewis, are “smiling, laughing” and “have a sense of direction now.”
That will be put to the test on Sunday evening in Brooklyn as the Nets host the Charlotte Hornets at Barclays before embarking on a nine-game road trip with seven contests against Western Conference opponents. Charlotte, which beat the Bucks 98-95 on Friday, acquired former Net Courtney Lee on Tuesday as part of a three-team deal with the Heat and Grizzlies. Lee has been practicing with his new team but hasn’t played yet with Charlotte, so he’ll make his debut tonight.
Charlotte will have the services of usual starter Al Jefferson, who will come off the bench. The center, who played in the win over Milwaukee, had been out since December 28 due to knee surgery. He’ll probably play around 20-25 minutes in a near-even split of the position with Cody Zeller. That’s not bad news for the Nets, who usually have a lot of trouble with Jefferson’s size at the rim.
The player to key in on for Steve Clifford’s team is Bronx native Kemba Walker, who is averaging over 20 points per game this season on career-best .424/.368/.848 shooting. He has scored at least 20 points in each of his last five games and has developed into one of the Eastern Conference’s better scoring point guards. His speed and yo-yo-like ballhanding ability helps him easily shake less-athletic defenders — Donald Sloan might have trouble with him — to either get open jumpers or easy drives to the hoop.
Probable lineups
CHA- Kemba Walker (PG), Courtney Lee (SG), Nicholas Batum (SF), Marvin Williams (PF), Cody Zeller (C)
BKN- Donald Sloan (PG), Wayne Ellington (SG), Joe Johnson (SF), Thaddeus Young (PF), Brook Lopez (C)
Final thoughts
Charlotte won the only other matchup between these two teams this season back on November 18th by a score of 116-111. Walker scored 18 in that one but the Hornets’ high-scorer was Nicholas Batum, who was left open on the perimeter for much of the night. The Nets need to lock down on him and Walker if they want a different result today.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
