The Atlanta Hawks and Charlotte Hornets might be in need of some time off, and they’ll get just that after they meet Wednesday night in Charlotte.

It will be the final game for both teams prior to the eight-day All-Star break, but there’s plenty to digest before tip-off.

The Hornets had a nine-game winning streak end in Monday’s fight-marred loss to the visiting Detroit Pistons. Two players from each team were ejected, including Moussa Diabate and Miles Bridges from the Hornets.

“I think overall our guys responded to every run that they went on,” said Charlotte coach Charles Lee, who was later ejected for arguing a call from a different situation. “I just love everything they brought from a competitive spirit.”

Now the Hornets likely will have to deal with roster availability issues if suspensions are levied as a result of the fight. Bridges provided a team-high 26 points in the 126-119 win on Saturday night at Atlanta.

The Hawks have lost their last two games — to the Hornets and then 138-116 at the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night. A bit of a new-look roster is offering challenges for Atlanta.

“We’re not used to those lineups yet,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “We’re still trying to figure out some of those guys and those combinations.”

Lee said the Hornets, who have gone more than a month without back-to-back losses, responded well in standing up to the Detroit’s physicality.

Charlotte split two games with Atlanta earlier in the season, with the home teams winning each time on Nov. 23 and Dec. 18. Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel led his side in scoring in both games. Diabate has been the team’s top rebounder in all three meetings with Atlanta.

Lost in the aftermath from Monday night, Knueppel became the first rookie this season to reach 1,000 points, doing so in his 53rd game. In the last 25 years, only three players have done so in fewer games.

Knueppel’s role Monday night included trying to restrain Diabate during the fracas.

“I just tried to de-escalate (him) because I knew he wouldn’t hurt me,” he said.

Suddenly, the stakes seem higher for Charlotte.

“We’re going to have to play through some physicality some games,” Hornets swingman Brandon Miller said.

Atlanta has given up more than 130 points four times since the beginning of January, continuing a trend of troubling defensive performances. The Hawks surrendered 81 points in the first half to the Timberwolves.

“I just thought they got clean open looks,” Snyder said. “They shot the ball well, but we didn’t make them uncomfortable enough. … A lot of the shots, they were contested, but they just had too much space.”

A zone defense worked better in the second half. Some of the earlier defensive woes negated opportunities for transition offense, further hampering the Hawks, Snyder said.

Atlanta’s CJ McCollum had 38 points in the Minnesota game, marking the veteran guard’s highest total in 15 games since he was acquired from the Washington Wizards. His previous high with the Hawks was 26 points.

McCollum had 12 points in 28 minutes in last week’s matchup with Charlotte.

Among the newcomers in the mix is Gabe Vincent, who made his debut with the Hawks on Monday after a trade from the Los Angeles Lakers. He had two points, four assists, three steals and one rebound in 19 minutes.

“Gabe, in particular, gave us some very good minutes,” Snyder said.

–Field Level Media

Two very motivated teams will take the floor on Wednesday when Alabama travels to Oxford, Miss. to take on Ole Miss in a Southeastern Conference match-up.

For the Crimson Tide (16-7, 6-4 SEC) and coach Nate Oaks, it’s about moving forward with the roster they started the season with and not the one that included big man Charles Bediako, who was shelved by Tuscaloosa Circuit Court Judge Daniel Pruet on Monday.

Pruet denied Bediako’s motion for a preliminary injunction to allow the former G League player to continue his season at Alabama. Bediako, who averaged 10.0 points and 4.6 rebounds per game in five outings with the Tide, was playing via a restraining order issued by judge James H. Roberts, after the NCAA denied his request to return to college basketball.

“Super disappointed,” Oats said on his Monday night radio show. He referenced many former professionals being eligible to play at the college level.

“I thought it was kind of a no-brainer with the NCAA. Then I didn’t think it would be that big of an issue.”

Bediako originally played two seasons at Alabama before declaring for the 2023 NBA Draft. He didn’t withdraw from the draft — a move that typically means a player has forfeited his remaining college eligibility — and went undrafted.

But the cupboard is hardly bare for the Tide, which have won five of seven. On Saturday, Alabama rallied to defeat Auburn, 96-92, led by Labaron Philon Jr.’s 25-point effort.

Philon averages 21.5 points per game to lead the SEC and rank 10th nationally entering play on Tuesday. He has hit 21 of his last 48 3-point attempts (43.8%).

“For our whole team, we’ve got to turn our focus back to the guys who are going to be on the floor,” Oats said. “We’ve got some very capable players (who) won some big games before Charles got here.”

For the Rebels (11-12, 3-7), the season has been a major letdown after a run to the Sweet 16 last year. They have dropped five straight, their longest losing streak since the 2022-23 season. But coach Chris Beard is confident the team turned a corner in their 79-68 loss at Texas on Saturday.

The Rebels rallied from an 18-point first half deficit to take a 68-65 lead with 3:35 remaining, but Texas finished the game on a 14-0 run.

Eduardo Klafke scored a career-high 16 points, his second consecutive game in double figures.

“We fought like we never fought before,” Klafke said. “We’re just trying to win this for Coach, but unfortunately, we ran out of time.”

Beard noted that the Rebels had just completed a weather-related four-game SEC road swing.

“We’re looking forward to getting back to the best college town in the country, Oxford, Miss.,” said Beard. “We’ve got a lot of basketball left. We’ve got some home games coming up and I still believe in this team, period.”

Ole Miss stunned then-No. 4 Alabama, 74-64, in Tuscaloosa last season, snapping a seven-game slide to the Tide. Malik Dia scored 23 points and added 19 rebounds for the Rebels.

–Field Level Media

Looking to boost their chances of making the NCAA Tournament, California travels to Syracuse on Wednesday in an Atlantic Coast Conference game.

The Golden Bears (17-7, 5-6 ACC) had their two-game winning streak snapped on Saturday at home against No. 20 Clemson, 77-55. The 22-point margin was their second-largest defeat of the season — trailing only their 24-point loss Jan. 7 at Virginia — and left the team searching for answers.

“Our goal is to dominate every single game on both sides of the ball,” Cal head coach Mark Madsen said. “To have a dominating defensive performance and a dominating offensive performance. That’s always the goal and the standard.”

Despite that Clemson loss, the Golden Bears have climbed from 72nd to 58th in the NET rankings that have a large influence on NCAA Tournament at-large selections.

As Cal tries to climb into better position, it will ask leading scorer Dai Dai Ames (17.0 ppg) to lead the way. He ranks 10th among ACC scorers and has hit double figures in six consecutive games.

Justin Pippen (15.2 ppg) has scored in double figures in 11 consecutive games and tied for the team lead with five rebounds against Clemson trying to make up for the absence of Lee Dort. Cal’s leading rebounder (7.7 rpg) has missed the last four games with a thigh injury.

The Orange (13-11, 4-7 ACC) lost 72-59 on Saturday at No. 20 Virginia. It was the team’s sixth loss in the past seven games and frustration is starting to build.

“These losses are difficult and everyone’s frustrated,” Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry said after the game. “Tomorrow, we gotta reset and get ready for our next opponent. That’s the schedule. We still have games left on the schedule, so they have to reset. This is a resilient group, a tough group, and I’m sure that we’ll respond.”

That starts with Donnie Freeman. He leads the team in scoring at 17.7 points per game on 48.9% shooting from the field, but he scored a season-low five points against Virginia on 2-of-11 shooting.

William Kyle, 11th in the ACC in rebounding at 7.4 per game and first in blocks at 2.7 per game, will try to help Syracuse overcome its rebounding struggles and take advantage of Cal’s weaknesses in that area. Both teams get outrebounded by 1.7 per game, which ranks third-worst in the league.

–Field Level Media