Wednesday night’s game between the Mavericks and the Charlotte Hornets will serve as the de-facto “home opener” in what has already been a strange NBA season. With no fans in the stands, the sense of pomp and circumstance surrounding a typical home opener will be gone and it will essentially be the same as any other game this season. In the lone Mavs home preseason game earlier this month, it was quite the strange scene to see the lower level of the American Airlines Center tarped off and Dallas occupying the bench on the right side of the TV screen instead of the same bench on the left side for all these years. No matter where the players sit, the game will go on the same.

Last four matchups (Mavericks W/L noted)
2/8/2020: DAL @ CHA W 116-100
1/4/2020: CHA @ DAL L 123-120
2/6/2019: CHA @ DAL W 99-93
1/2/2019: DAL @ CHA W 122-84

A fascinating Charlotte team 
The Mavericks first three regular season opponents have been Western Conference foes we’re all quite familiar with in the Suns, Lakers and Clippers. The next three games on the team’s schedule have them swimming through the Eastern Conference with Miami and Chicago up next after Wednesday’s game. Of all the team’s in the league, the Charlotte Hornets might be one of two or three most anonymous of them all.

Despite adding a member of the polarizing Ball family in last month’s draft and signing Gordon Hayward to an eye-popping/head-scratching $120 million free agent deal, the Hornets are still flying under the radar in the Eastern Conference to start the season. Hayward has quickly accommodated to the offensive flow in Charlotte shooting an efficient 54% from the field on 17 shots per night. LaMelo Ball is averaging just 17 minutes per game as coach James Borrego looks to ease his introduction to the NBA

Ball’s minutes might be influenced by the hot start of “Scary” Terry Rozier. After signing a three year/$57 million contract in July 2019, Rozier has not been shy about getting shots up after playing a far-less featured role for the Celtics over the course of his first four seasons. He has a strong 29 point/8 assist performance during Charlotte’s upset win over the Mavericks in Dallas last January.

Charlotte’s other recent high draft picks in Miles Bridges, P.J. Washington and Devonte Graham continue to show flashes of exciting young talent, but Charlotte still lacks that clear “blue chip” that the Mavericks have in Luka Doncic and perhaps even Kristaps Porzingis. Hopefully the additions of Hayward and Ball can be enough of a talent injection to get this team back to the postseason for the first time since 2016.

Mavs Health Questions 
As of the time this was written on Tuesday evening, Josh Richardson is listed as questionable for this game with a left calf strain. Besides his obvious defensive talent, Richardson has been the Mavericks’ second leading scorer with Kristaps Porzingis out of the lineup and Tim Hardaway Jr. struggling with his jump shot through three games. Despite a 50 point win on Sunday, the Mavs are far from in tip-top form so far, so they could definitely use Richardson’s presence against a young and talented Charlotte team.

It was also revealed on Tuesday that Kristaps Porzingis had his first full-on practice since his meniscus surgery back in October. While he is definitely not playing on Wednesday, his return could be very soon on the horizon after the calendar flips to 2021.

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Mavs/Hornets will tip-off from the AAC just after 7:30 on Wednesday night. Dallas is currently favored by 8.5 according to oddsshark.com.