National Basketball Association
Preview
Portland at Charlotte
When: 7:00 PM ET, Friday, January 24, 2025
Where: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, North Carolina

The Charlotte Hornets, who are enjoying a period of offensive diversity, figure to need multiple options when they oppose the visiting Portland Trail Blazers on Friday.

The Trail Blazers have a quick turnaround after their defense excelled in a 101-79 road victory over the Orlando Magic on Thursday.

Portland owns its second three-game winning streak of the season. It was just the third time an opponent failed to score at least 100 points against the Blazers this campaign, and the other two times, the foe had 98 points.

"Just willing to scrap and fight," Trail Blazers center Robert Williams III said.

Portland coach Chauncey Billups added of his team's performance, "Thought it was a masterpiece. I really did. We locked in. They missed a lot of shots, but I thought it was because of what we did. I thought we sped them up a little bit."

Anfernee Simons had 21 points to lead five Trail Blazers in double figures, though Scoot Henderson saw his streak of double-digit games end at five as he had just four points in 14 minutes off the bench.

The Hornets own a 4-4 record in January after winning only once in 12 games last month.

Charlotte had a season-best three-game winning streak end Wednesday with a 132-120 loss to the host Memphis Grizzlies. The Hornets fell despite receiving a career-high 38 points from center Mark Williams.

"Mark is an ultimate team guy, and he's trying to do everything he can to impact winning," Hornets coach Charles Lee said. "We're all happy for him to hit that career high. Next time, we hope it's in a win."

The 38 points in a game ties for the third most by a Hornets center in franchise history. Mark Williams shot 14-for-18 from the field and made 10 of 13 free-throw attempts.

"(My confidence) is continuing to go up every game," Mark Williams said. "Credit to my teammates for trusting me, trusting me with the ball and being able to make plays. Finding them, them finding me, so it's just working well right now."

Mark Williams has reached the 24-point level in three of the past five games. His contributions have bumped up since center Nick Richards was traded to the Phoenix Suns last week in exchange for guard Josh Okogie and three draft picks.

Charlotte guard LaMelo Ball had a streak of four consecutive games with nine or more assists end when he logged six in Memphis. Still, his versatile contributions on offense have been a boost to the team.

"It just shows that we're trusting the pass, trusting each other and doing it for 48 minutes," Lee said. "He has grown tremendously and bringing all these guys along with him."

Miles Bridges also has provide a recent spark for Charlotte, scoring 20 or more points in six of the eight games this month. Some of the uptick in production has corresponded with a season-ending injury to Brandon Miller.

"We're getting the production that we all expected from (Bridges) early in the year and what we know he's capable of doing," Lee said.

The Hornets will need to be attentive on defense after yielding more than 130 points for the second time this season on Wednesday.

Charlotte guard Seth Curry was limping in the Memphis game due to a sprained right ankle, but he was listed as probable to oppose the Trail Blazers. Ball (sprained right wrist) and Bridges (lower back spasms) were considered questionable.

The teams will meet for the first time this season, with the Trail Blazers having won four of their past five matchups against the Hornets.

--Field Level Media

Stats and Records
Team Comparison
  W/L Strk Home Away Day Night Div Conf
Portland 16-28 W3 9-12 7-16 2-0 14-28 4-4 11-23
Charlotte 11-29 L1 7-13 4-16 3-2 8-27 0-8 7-24
Last Meeting
Portland Charlotte
Date Away Home Pts Reb FG% Pts Reb FG%
4/3/24 POR 89 CHA 86 89 55 39.8 86 36 41.0
Player Stats
Previous Matchup
Points Player Total FG% FTM
Portland D. Ayton 24 54.5 0
Charlotte B. Miller 21 45.0 2
Rebounds Player Total Off Def
Portland J. Walker 22 3 19
Charlotte M. Bolden 8 1 7
Assists Player  
Portland S. Henderson 10
Charlotte G. Williams 11
Season
Points Player Total FG% FTM
Portland A. Simons 741 42.3 89
Charlotte L. Ball 900 41.6 143
Rebounds Player Total Off Def
Portland D. Ayton 341 102 239
Charlotte M. Diabate 237 106 131
Assists Player  
Portland S. Henderson 207
Charlotte L. Ball 240
Quickchart Matchup
Portland Portland Off vs  Charlotte Charlotte Defense
Portland Off vs Charlotte - Points For 107.9 Points For
Portland Off vs Charlotte - Points Against 113.0 Points Against
Portland - FG% 44.9 FG%
Charlotte - FG% 46.6 FG%
Portland - Reb 43.3 Reb
Charlotte - Reb 44.1 Reb
Charlotte Charlotte Off vs  Portland Portland Defense
Charlotte Off vs Portland - Points For 107.4 Points For
Charlotte Off vs Portland - Points Against 115.6 Points Against
Charlotte - FG% 43.1 FG%
Portland - FG% 47.5 FG%
Charlotte - Reb 46.0 Reb
Portland - Reb 44.9 Reb