Fact checked at 7:31 AM ET, Nov 12, 2026Odds as of 6:21 AM ET, Nov 12, 2026
The Hornets (4-7) are in Phoenix tonight for a 9:00 PM ET tip at Mortgage Matchup Center, and the Suns (4-6) are 6.5-point favorites. Charlotte is still without Brandon Miller (right hip strain) and both Kon Knueppel and Dennis Schroder (left hamstring strains). Moussa Diabate and Grant Williams are probable on the latest injury report. The Hornets have played one full game without Miller, Knueppel and Schroder. They won it, 124-112 over Cleveland three nights ago, and they did it by making 23 of 46 threes. This is a team that shoots 30.8% from three for the season and scores 98.8 points a game, the fewest in the league. We have no idea which Charlotte shows up, so there's no pick on the spread.
Phoenix's frontcourt is easier to read, and both picks come from it. Mark Williams is out after left shoulder surgery and hasn't played this season. Khaman Maluach started the first six games at center and the Suns went 1-5. Four games ago coach Jordan Ott moved Maluach to the bench and started Oso Ighodaro. Phoenix is 3-1 since. Maluach has scored more against second units, and a smaller starting five needs its forwards to rebound.
Hornets vs. Suns Predictions
Pick #1Khaman Maluach Over 6.5 Points+100
In four games off the bench Maluach has scored 8, 8, 11 and 11 on 15-of-21 shooting, and he has played 18 to 22 minutes every night. As a starter he averaged 7.2 points and his minutes swung from 13 to 28. Ott said the switch was meant to put him back in his comfort zone after two weeks against first units led by Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Stephen Curry.
Count the whole season and he has seven or more points in seven of his 10 games. All three misses (2, 5 and 6 points) came as a starter, in 17, 13 and 16 minutes. He's a 7-footer, and the reserves around him are guards and wings: Collin Gillespie, Luke Kennard, Ryan Dunn and Jordan Goodwin.
Books make the Under the favorite, and the Over at +100 works out to 50.0%. To us, that number is still catching up to the role. Maluach averaged 3.0 points in 8.9 minutes as a rookie last season. He's at about 20 minutes a night since the change.
Fouls are the danger. He has four or more in five of his 10 games, including five in 22 minutes against the Clippers two nights ago. He's expected to come off the bench again, but that isn't confirmed. Diabate, Charlotte's leading rebounder at 9.1 a game, is probable after missing two games with a quadriceps injury, and he'd give the Hornets another big man.
Pick #2Dillon Brooks Over 3.5 Rebounds−117
Brooks has started all 10 games at forward and has four or more rebounds in seven of them: 4, 2, 5, 1, 8, 6, 1, 4, 4 and 4, oldest first. He has exactly four in each of the last three. He got there in 26 minutes in the loss to San Antonio and again in 22 minutes in the 133-110 win over the Clippers.
At -117 the implied chance is 53.9%. Last season he had four or more in 27 of 56 regular-season games, all starts for the Suns, then in five of six in the play-in and playoffs. Four of his seven clears this season were exactly four rebounds, so there's nothing to spare.
Ighodaro is the smaller of Phoenix's two centers, and after the first game with the new lineup Devin Booker said, "we all got to do a little bit more and help them rebound."
Charlotte misses a lot, too. The Hornets take 44.6 threes a game, the most in the league, and make 30.8%. They shoot 40.0% overall, the lowest mark in the league, which works out to more than 52 missed shots a game. They also get plenty of those back: Charlotte leads the league in offensive rebounds at 15.0 a game, and Phoenix is last in rebounds at 39.7.
21+ (18+ where permitted). Odds subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
