LaMelo Ball looks to lead his Charlotte Hornets to win over Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat

Charlotte looks to get back on track versus division opponent.

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INJURY REPORT

Hornets: OUT - Mark Williams (L Foot), Tre Mann (Low Back), Miles Bridges (R Knee), Daquan Jeffries (R Hand), Nick Richards (R Rib)

Heat: OUT - Dru Smith (Knee), QUESTIONABLE - Kevin Love (Back)

Game Preview

The Charlotte Hornets are coming off of a tough loss to the Orlando Magic on Monday night, while the Heat are on the second night of a back-to-back after their 22-point comeback came just short in a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.

In Charlotte's loss to the Orlando, LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller combined for 64 of the Hornets 84 points and 64 of the 69 points from the starters. To put it bluntly, the formula of the Hornets getting little to no help from players outside of Ball and Miller is not going to win many games.

Ball has had one of the best starts to a season in Hornets history, if not the best, in the 17 games played. LaMelo is second in points per game (31), first in fourth quarter points, and first in total points this season across all players in the NBA.

Obviously Ball is playing out of his mind, but the injuries have really caught up to the Hornets, which is why the team is on a losing skid as of late. Tre Mann and Miles Bridges are key pieces to the depth and scoring for the Hornets and their presence has been missed.

Instead of Mann and Bridges, the Hornets have had to roll out Tidjane Salaün in the front court, and KJ Simpson and Vasilije Micić behind Ball and Miller. As well, the Hornets have had to play their two-way center Moussa Diabate a ton with Mark Williams and Nick Richards missing time. The hope is Williams and Richards will be able to return soon.

For Miami, they've had their fair share of injuries early on in the season, but have seemingly begun to get their key players back in the lineup. Tyler Herro has been the team's best player this season, averaging over 23 points per game, while shooting over 46% from the field.

Both Miami and Charlotte have went 4-6 in their last 10 games. When both teams took the court together earlier in the season, Miami was able to take the win in the matchup with a 114-106 victory. The Hornets were also shorthanded in that game, but when are they not?

In the previous matchup, it was Jimmy Butler who had a big game with 26 points with Herro and Rozier combining for 41 points. Butler typically has some of his best games versus the Hornets, as he seems to enjoy playing the Hornets.

Key Matchup - The Bench

This has been a problem for the Hornets as of late due to all of the injuries that the team has suffered. On the other side of the court, Miami has formed a scary bench unit. In last night's game, Miami had Terry Rozier, Jaime Jaquez Jr, and Alec Burks coming off the bench, while the Hornets have just Cody Martin, Seth Curry, and Moussa Diabate left as key contributors.

With all that in mind, this matchup between the bench units will play a huge role in this game for the Hornets. The starters can hopefully hold it down, but the bench depth of the Hornets will have to get going in this game or they will have absolutely no chance of winning, which would result in their third straight loss.

Projected Starting Lineups

Position	Charlotte Hornets	Miami Heat
Point Guard	LaMelo Ball	Tyler Herro
Shooting Guard	Josh Green	Duncan Robinson
Small Forward	Brandon Miller	Jimmy Butler
Power Forward	Tidjane Salaün	Haywood Highsmith
Center	Taj Gibson	Bam Adebayo

Charlotte's next contest is on Friday when they will welcome the New York Knicks into town for an NBA Cup matchup.

MORE STORIES FROM HORNETS ON SI

LaMelo Ball becomes second-fastest in NBA history to reach 600 made three-pointers

Score predictions for the Hornets' second matchup with the Miami Heat

Charles Lee praises growth of rookie Tidjane Salaün despite early struggles

LaMelo Ball's continued record-breaking brilliance wasn't enough in loss to Wagner, Magic