Tonight will mark a loaded day of NBA action, with 11 games taking place across the Wednesday slate. Tipping off at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Charlotte Hornets will take on the Brooklyn Nets.
Both these youthful squads went through significant facelifts this offseason, and this will be the first look at their rosters in the 2026-27 season. Charlotte is looking to improve off a 44-win season last year, while Brooklyn will be eager to take a step froward after winning 20 games in 2025-26.
Looking at the odds, the Hornets enter as 1.5-point favorites with -118 Moneyline odds on DraftKings Sportsbook. The Nets hold -102 odds to pull off the outright win, with the game total set at 219.5 points.
Hornets vs. Nets Preview
The Charlotte Hornets limped out of the gates last year, opening with a 13-25 record before finding their footing in the second half of the campaign. They finished ninth in the Eastern Conference with a 44-38 record overall. Charlotte defeated the Miami Heat in the opening Play-In Tournament matchup before being eliminated by the Orlando Magic without qualifying for the playoffs. The Hornets embraced an up-tempo, fun style of basketball, attempting the second-most three-pointers of any team in the league and connecting at the third-best rate.
It is tough to put too much stock into the metrics as the organization made the decision to move on from LaMelo Ball this offseason, in a major trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Naz Reid and draft pick capital were the primary trade return for Charlotte. Brandon Miller will be expected to continue scaling up his role as the face of the franchise and was paid as such. Kon Knueppel had a stellar rookie season, and Coby White will look to build off his strong ending to last season. Moussa Diabate, Hannes Steinbach, and Ryan Kalkbrenner round out the big man rotation with each holding interesting skillsets.
So much of the identity of the franchise has been tied to LaMelo Ball since he was drafted. It will be interesting to see the full effects of his absence this season, especially coming off the strong ending to the season that was seen last year.
The Brooklyn Nets finished last season with a 20-62 record, which slotted them in 13th place in the Eastern Conference. They opened the year by losing 11 of their first 12 games and were never able to fully recover. After focusing heavily on rebuilding and developing young talent, the organization will look to take a step toward more competitive basketball this season.
To help accelerate that process, Brooklyn acquired Julius Randle from Minnesota this offseason. The three-time All-Star brings an established scoring presence and playmaking ability to the frontcourt, giving the Nets a more experienced centerpiece around which to build their offense. Michael Porter Jr. will also play an important role after leading the Nets last season with 24.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Sixth-overall pick Mikel Brown Jr. is expected to play a major role after an impressive one-and-done season at Louisville, while Egor Demin, Drake Powell, Ben Saraf, and Nolan Traore are each also hopeful foundational pieces with youth.
There are plenty of questions about the direction of this Nets team moving forward. But there have been positive signs from Jordi Fernandez at head coach and the organization has given him more talent to work with this year.
Hornets vs. Nets Pick, Best Bet
For what it is worth, these two teams faced off in preseason, which resulted in a 124-90 victory by the Nets. A fair amount of starters took the floor for both sides, but the minutes were spread out with more of an evaluation standpoint on each team. Brooklyn also shot an impressive 20-for-37 (54%) from beyond the three-point arc in this matchup.
Even if Brooklyn does not replicate that level of three-point shooting, I am backing the Nets to open the season with a victory. Charlotte’s decision to move on from Ball may make sense from a long-term roster-building perspective, but the adjustment will not happen overnight. Ball was the primary engine of the Hornets’ offense, setting the pace and creating opportunities for his teammates. Replacing that production and playmaking will be a significant challenge, particularly in the opening game of the season.
In contrast, the Nets are still largely a blank canvas, still figuring out what they want to paint. Randle provides a high floor that the organization lacks, and I expect the team to play through him out of the paint at a high rate. Porter Jr. will be capable of punishing double teams by knocking down three-pointers at a high rate. Even with the 54% three-point percentage not being fully sustainable, the process that the Nets went about creating these shots was encouraging. They also will have the benefit of home-court advantage.
This is not exactly a matchup between the league’s most elite, but I am backing Brooklyn to inch closer to competence as an organization. Expect these two teams to trend in opposite directions as compared to last year’s results and for the Nets to steal a season-opening win.
