The Cavs open up a four-game homestand as they welcome the Hornets to town.

Who: Cleveland Cavaliers (30-4) vs. Charlotte Hornets (7-26).

Where: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse – Cleveland, OH

When: 6 p.m., Sunday January 5

TV: Fanduel Sports Network Ohio (previously Bally Sports), NBA League Pass

Advertisement

Line: Cavs -15.5

Cavs expected starting lineup: Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Dean Wade, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen

Cavs injury report: Isaac Okoro – OUT (shoulder), Sam Merrill- QUESTIONABLE (ankle sprain), Emoni Bates- OUT (G League), Luke Travers – OUT (G League)

Hornets expected starting lineup: Vasilije Micic, Seth Curry, Miles Bridges, Josh Green, Mark Williams

Hornets injury report: LaMelo Ball – QUESTIONABLE (ankle and wrist), Brandon Miller – QUESTIONABLE (ankle), Tre Mann – OUT (disc), Grant Williams – OUT (knee), DaQuan Jeffries – QUESTIONABLE (abs), Josh Green – PROBABLE (shoulder), Moussa Diabate – OUT (G League), Isaiah Wong – OUT (G League)

Advertisement

What to watch for

Keeping the good play going

Cleveland has won nine straight games by double digits. Meanwhile, the Hornets are one of the worst teams in the league, could be without their two best players, and are just coming off a performance against the Detroit Pistons where they scored just 29 points in the second half to lose by four. This should be a game the Cavaliers win with ease.

That said, it’d be easy to look past Charlotte. The Cavs are coming off of a four-game Western Conference road trip. The first home game after being away for that long is easy to drop. Additionally, Wednesday’s matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder will be the second-biggest game of the regular season so far for the Cavs. It’d be easy to let both of those things keep them from playing their best.

Repeat Mobley performance

Mobey scored a career-high 41 points against Charlotte’s weak front line when they played last month. That performance catapulted Mobley into one of the most impressive stretches of his career. In the 10 games since, he’s averaging 21.2 points and 7.6 rebounds while shooting 63.4% from the field and 53.8% from distance on 3.9 three-point attempts per game.

Mobley will have an interesting test against OKC on Wednesday. How he does there will likely determine if the Cavs win that game. In the meantime, you’d like to see him have a strong showing here so he can head into that matchup with confidence.