The Philadelphia 76ers will finish up a 3-game road trip on Wednesday night when they take on the Charlotte Hornets in Buzz City. There has been a lot of buzz around the Hornets lately as they come in winning three straight over legitimate teams such as the Indiana Pacers, the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Miami Heat.
Their recent play has them sitting at the 8 seed with a 10-11 record and their rookie point guard LaMelo Ball was just named Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month. They are off to a solid start and they seem to be getting better under coach James Borrego.
The Sixers faced the Hornets twice earlier in the season in Philadelphia and they beat them both times, but coach Doc Rivers wants his team taking Charlotte seriously.
“I thought they were good when we played them the first time,” said Rivers. “They have great guard play, they have shotmakers, I think Ball is showing what he’s gonna be, he’s gonna be a terrific player.”
The Hornets will be missing one of those guards on Wednesday as Terry Rozier is out for this one, but they still have a solid rotation of players, and Rivers believes that Charlotte can even make the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
“They’re well-coached,” he added. “I just think that they’re playing better, but I thought they played well against us. They’re going to be a team I’d be surprised if they didn’t make the playoffs, just my opinion. So you have to be ready to play them.”
When the Hornets last faced the Sixers, they were missing Cody Zeller who was out with an injury so they had to go with Bismack Biyombo. Since his return, the team is 5-3 and they have been able to put it together a bit.
“He just does different things,” Rivers explained. “Biyombo rolls more, Zeller does both. Zeller is a hard-playing dude, he always has been, he brings great energy to the game. I think both their bigs have served him well.”
Tipoff from the Spectrum Center is set for 7 p.m. EST where the Sixers will have to be ready for a battle.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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