Feeling refreshed and revived from their recent travels, the Charlotte Hornets return home to face the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday.
Charlotte is 6-5 in its last 11 games, with no victory bigger than the one they pulled off over the defending champions Monday.
“I think it just continues to show them our daily process, our preparation, everything they are doing from a physical and mental standpoint is obviously helping them come game time,” Hornets coach Charles Lee said.
The Hornets knocked off the Oklahoma City Thunder 124-97 on Monday. The Thunder still hold the best record in the NBA at 30-7.
Charlotte earned consecutive victories to close a three-game road trip across four days.
The Raptors ran past the visiting Atlanta Hawks 118-100 on Monday night for their second victory over the Hawks across a three-day period.
Toronto will be looking to make amends against the Hornets, who won two previous meetings, the first in overtime on Nov. 29 and the second on Dec. 5.
“It’s focusing on one game at a time,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said, deflecting suggestions that the team is in on track after four victories in five games. “We just go to look at the test that is at hand and focus.”
Brandon Ingram has led the Raptors in scoring the past three games. He is returning to his home state for Wednesday’s game, although he had only seven points on 3-of-13 shooting in 29 minutes during last month’s visit to Charlotte.
Ingram is 9 of 14 (64.3%) on 3-pointers over the last three games combined after a two-game stretch at 0 of 14 from beyond the arc.
Toronto has received a boost from rookie Collin Murray-Boyles, who notched 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting Monday. That’s his second-highest point total of the season. He averaged 4.0 points in two previous outings vs. Charlotte.
“We’re constantly learning about what Collin can do, what he’s learning,” Rajakovic said. “It’s really impressive, his development.”
Brandon Miller’s 28 points against the Thunder were among the notable numbers for Charlotte, which had six players score in double figures. Miller shot 7-for-10 on 3-pointers, while Kon Knueppel’s five 3s, and LaMelo Ball’s four, contributed to the team’s 19-for-37 shooting (51.1%) from long range.
“Offensively, we had purpose behind what we were doing,” Lee said. “We were strong with the ball. We weren’t complaining, expecting calls, whining.”
Miller said it was a collective effort on offense that allowed him to find a groove.
“I think (my teammates) trust me enough to take shots like that,” Miller said. “I take them — I make them sometimes, I miss them sometimes. I’m not perfect, but my teammates are going to keep trusting me to take those shots.”
The Hornets gave another example of the possibilities on offense.
“We can be an elite offensive group,” Knueppel said. “We play with the pass, and we play fast. That’s what we’ve been doing for the past half-month, and we want to keep it going.”
Charlotte’s Miles Bridges, who averages a team-leading 20.1 points per game, racked up 35 points in a Nov. 29 overtime home victory against Toronto. On Monday, he shot 6 of 6 from 2-point range and 0 of 6 on 3s.
