Watch Live: Brooklyn Nets at Charlotte Hornets, 7:00 PM EST on YES Network

How are we feeling, Nets fans? It’s been a weird week, to say the least, but the Nets are coming off a pretty big high after beating the Wizards on Friday night by 42 points.

This without Kyrie Irving (suspended) and Ben Simmons (injured); led by Kevin Durant and the “young kids.”

That same team now heads to Charlotte on Saturday night where they’ll face a depleted Hornets team that just got cooked by the Memphis Grizzlies by 31 points 24 hours ago.

The Nets need a little run, given everything that’s been going on, so it would be nice to see them come out of this back-to-back with a 2-0 record.

WHO: Brooklyn Nets (3-6) at Charlotte Hornets (3-6)

WHEN: 7:00 p.m. est

WHERE: YES Network (tv, app), WFAN-FM (radio)

Game preview.

Still, without LaMelo Ball, the Hornets are not highly competitive, and a whole hell of a lot less fun. They are certainly worse when Gordon Hayward, who is often missing, is missing. In fact, Charlotte has a winning record over the last three seasons when he plays.

These early-season injuries, though, may be pushing the Hornets down an ultimately fruitful path, one that leads to a chance at grabbing Victor Wembanyama or another blue-chip prospect in this allegedly strong draft class.

Such is the state of Charlotte’s ball-team right now, though, that just nine games into the season its tanking is on the mind. Oh well. With LaMelo Ball out, an imagined future is the most exciting thing about the franchise for now.

Still, the Hornets won’t beat themselves, particularly after getting embarrassed on their home floor less than 24 hours before Saturday’s tip-off. No, this is probably not a good team without injuries, and the doctor’s report only makes things bleaker. But they do play hard under Clifford, with an average defense and an offense that shares the ball (8th in assist rate), and not *always* with the other team (19th in turnover rate).

For more on the Hornets, check out At the Hive.