The Charlotte Hornets have much bigger things on their minds than Miles Bridges tonight as they begin their first (and brief) West Coast road trip of the season at 9:00 PM EST in Phoenix.

Or they should, at least; the Hornets finally broke their six-game losing streak against the Cavaliers Monday night, and as the schedule tightens, the traveling Hornets can’t afford to drop another.

Jet lag never helps, and there’s a sentiment in basketball that you can carry your mentality with you cross-country, but it doesn’t always matter if your jump shot doesn’t travel with you, too.

It happened to the Hornets last year as they began a road trip in which they had a positive winning streak by the time it was over. 

But that road trip’s first game was in Phoenix just like tonight, and the Hornets lost.

To make matters worse: Charlotte’s collective jumpshot couldn’t even travel from their apartments and homes to the Spectrum Center until the Cavs win Monday. I worry that will be the case again tonight as they fly west for the first time.

Phoenix, on the other hand, is going into tonight against Charlotte knowing it’s their final game of a seven-game home stand…

A home stand that’s helped the Suns pick up momentum of their own after they began the year 1-5. Phoenix is now 2 games off of .500 (4-6) and you can bet they want to end this home stand right.

You can also bet Charlotte wants to keep their winning ways going to push closer to .500 themselves, and Charlotte plays the Clippers next. It’s a great opportunity to get a small win streak going again before Luka Doncic and the Lakers likely bring you down to earth.

This Suns game for the Hornets is likely the most important one of their four-game road trip, and it’ll decide whether they can end it at .500 or go back to Charlotte with a losing record on the West Coast visit.

It’s not an unstoppable moving force meeting an immovable object here. Let’s be honest— both of these teams have flaws. Maybe more like a movable object meeting a stoppable force.

The Hornets are 8th in the NBA in total team rebounds, and the Suns are dead last in the NBA in that category; it’s where this game could be decided. Charlotte Hornets PR also announced that Grant Williams and Moussa Diabaté are both available vs. Phoenix, which helps further Charlotte’s advantage there.

But most great rebounding teams in the league haven’t struggled shooting the ball as much as Charlotte has… they’ve lost multiple games this year where they’ve won the rebounding battle and still lost because their offense was non-existent.

There have also been games where you assumed the Hornets would CERTAINLY win the rebounding battle — vs. PHI, for example, without LeBron or Embiid — and the Hornets just… lost the rebounding battle anyway.

The Suns are also one of the better scoring teams in regard to the 3rd quarter, specifically; the Hornets are 30th in average 3rd-quarter points per game.

Plain and simple, if Charlotte comes in with their hot hand behind the 3-point line? They’re going to win this game. A big night behind the arc on top of the rebounding factor for the Hornets will be too much like it was for Cleveland Monday.

But for the Suns, Tuesday, even in the second half of a back-to-back, had 81 bench points vs the Clippers. 

That’s the kind of help that leads to offensive runs, and Charlotte has NOT done well at withstanding offensive barrages themselves defensively. 

The bench factor will matter in the second half; I believe that’s huge for the Suns.

The bench, the Hornets' jet lag and shooting struggles most of the year so far, and the Suns bringing on a great run of play are why I’m going to pick the Suns to win this one.

Not because the Miles Bridges factor matters at all, but because the amount of small things that potentially favor Phoenix in this game aside from Bridges are too many to ignore.

This game is a real toss-up, and that’s why I’m resorting to little things like jet lag mattering, but here we are nonetheless.

Suns win this one and send Charlotte into what would be a must-win game against the Clippers on Sunday night.

Here’s my final score as well as others from the Hornets on SI staff:

My Score Prediction: Suns 106, Hornets 97

Albert Böttcher: Hornets 104 - 109 Suns

The Hornets had a great shooting night against Cleveland, but even then, they almost threw a 33-point lead away towards the end. Phoenix is one of the worst defensive teams in the league, problem is that Coby White and Co. haven’t at all been able to consistently punish defensive mishaps this season. One red-hot performance against the Cavs doesn’t change that. I’m also skeptical of who is supposed to contain Devin Booker, who had 30 points and 10 assists the last time these two teams met in Phoenix. Offensive rebounding will keep the Hornets in this, but it won’t be enough to win.

Matt Alquiza: Hornets 108 Suns 102

The Hornets are going streaking. 

Charlotte’s strengths should exploit Phoenix’s weaknesses out in the desert. No team in the league gives up more offensive rebounds than the Suns, and with Moussa Diabate back in the lineup and his board-hungry backup Ryan Kalkbrenner ready to spell him, I believe the Hornets will win the possession battle and in turn walk away with a victory tonight. 

Mark Livingston: Suns 112, Hornets 105

The Hornets looked like a completely different team against Cleveland, especially shooting the basketball. Charlotte hit 23 three-pointers in that win, but doing that again on the road against Phoenix is asking a lot. The Suns have Devin Booker, and Charlotte is still dealing with injuries to some key players. I think the Hornets can hang around for a while, but Phoenix will be tough to beat at home.