88
97
The Charlotte Hornets went up to Cleveland for the first of their three confrontations with LeBron James on Monday night, but a early start for Cleveland would doom Charlotte, as the Cavaliers handed Charlotte it's third straight loss with a 97-88 win over the Hornets. Charlotte is now 6-18 on the season, while the Cavs improved to 14-9 with the win on Monday.
Of course, when you face Cleveland, you have one major assignment: Trying to stop "King James", but LeBron had some other plans, he helped Cleveland get out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter, and that would lead to him finishing up with 27 points and 13 assists, while Kevin Love got into the act to finish with 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field to go along with 18 rebounds. Kyrie Irving was just 6-of-14 from the field, but he did end up with 16 points and rounding out the long list of double-figure scorers for the Cavs was Tristan Thompson with 10 points off the bench.
The Charlotte Hornets were led in the loss by Kemba Walker, who had 24 in the loss. Charlotte is back home at Time Warner Cable Arena this evening, as they battle the Phoenix Suns at 7:00 p.m., before they travel to Philadelphia on Friday night to face one of the worst teams in the NBA, the Philadelphia 76ers for a 7:00 p.m. start.
Charlotte Hornets(6-17) vs. Cleveland Cavaliers(13-9)
Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland
Monday, 7:00 p.m.
Television: SportSouth
Radio: WFNZ-AM(610 The Fan)
Series history(since original Hornets first season in 1988-89): CLE leads series 52-40
It's the rematch we've been all waiting for, as Lance Stephenson will lead the Charlotte Hornets into battle tonight on the road in Cleveland against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The last time that the Hornets were in action was back on Saturday night, when they got blown out by 27 points at the hands of Joe Johnson and the Brooklyn Nets, while the Cavaliers on the other hand are coming off a 5-point loss back on Friday night to Anthony Davis and the Pelicans in New Orleans.
Scouting the Hornets
On Saturday night, the Charlotte Hornets knew that they ran out of gas after playing a double-overtime game back on Friday night against the Memphis Grizzlies, and the game was over before it got started, as Joe Johnson and the Brooklyn Nets ran up the score and ran out of Charlotte with a 114-87 win over the Hornets. The Hornets have one thing in mind tonight, and that thing is heading into Cleveland to upset their arch nemesis LeBron James and the rest of the Cleveland Cavaliers to get back into the win column after losing the last 2 games.
Scouting the Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers meanwhile, are still trying to find their way around in their first season back with LeBron James at the helm. On Friday night, Cleveland did made a late rally in the 4th quarter, but it wasn't enough to bring down the Pelicans in New Orleans. Along with LeBron, the Cavs also have two star players to add on with their equation in Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving. This will be an entertaining game to watch this evening, as LeBron squares off with Lance for the first time since last season's Eastern Conference Finals.
Next 4 games for the Hornets(Home games in Purple, Road games in Teal)
Wednesday: Phoenix Suns vs. Charlotte(7:00 p.m.)
Friday: Charlotte @ Philadelphia 76ers(7:00 p.m.)
Saturday: Utah Jazz vs. Charlotte(7:00 p.m.)
Next Monday: Denver Nuggets vs. Charlotte(7:00 p.m.)
NOTES: All SportSouth telecasts begin with "Hornets Live" 30 minutes before tip-off; All Hornets games can be heard locally on flagship station WFNZ-AM(610 The Fan) and throughout the Carolinas on the Hornets Radio Network.
