Cleveland Cavaliers vs Charlotte Hornets: TV Schedule & Live Stream
The Cleveland Cavaliers are looking to halt their road woes as they travel to Time Warner Cable Arena on Friday night to face the Charlotte Hornets, who have won four in a row. It is the first of four meetings this season between the two teams.
Cleveland lost their straight on the road when the Toronto Raptors defeated them 103-99 on Wednesday night at Air Canada Centre. LeBron James had 24 points, six rebounds and eight assists in a losing effort. Kevin Love scored 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds while Mo Williams and J.R. Smith both added 15 points each.
The Cavaliers are playing without Matthew Dellavedova, Kyrie Irving, Timofey Mozgov and Iman Shumpert due to injuries. Coach David Blatt said that fatigue was a big factor in their fourth loss of the season, all on the road.
"I thought fatigue played a big part in it. I thought we got tired, for obvious reasons. We're very short-handed. Our guys played hard. I thought we just ran out of gas. It's not an excuse. It's just an observation," Blatt said per NBA.com.
However, James is not making any excuses and they have time to energize with a day off. "It's not an excuse. We need to hold each other more accountable. We got to play better, and we will. But I don't think we improved tonight," he said.
The Hornets are undefeated in the first four games of their current seven-game homestand that started with a win against the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday last week. They defeated the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night 101-87, bringing their current record to 9-6, good for sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings.
Jeremy Lamb had 18 points and seven rebounds off the bench to lead Charlotte in scoring while Nicolas Batum added 16 points and 11 assists as they closed the game with a 25-2 run.
"It felt like we couldn't nothing going. We kept missing shots, but we just stayed together and stayed with it and started hitting some shots. Next thing you know, it's a 25-0 run," Lamb said after the game.
Charlotte won their seventh straight home game and are currently 7-1 at Time Warner Cable Arena while also winning five out of their last six games. "That's impressive because that team can score. When we play defense, we can beat any team in this league," Batum said.
The 11-4 Cavaliers swept the Hornets in three games last season with a winning margin of 17.3 per game. Tip-off starts at 7 p.m. ET and will be available via NBA League Pass. It will also be broadcasted on Sportsnet One in Canada while shown locally via FS Ohio and FOX Sports Southeast in Cleveland and Charlotte, respectively.
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