The Charlotte Hornets travel to Florida to play the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena on Saturday.

The Hornets (1-1) have looked much better than most expected in their first two games, as they have a 32-point win over the Orlando Magic and a one-point defeat at the hands of the competitive Milwaukee Bucks. It's clear why they've been playing well, with Kemba Walker posting some career statistics. In fact, Walker is averaging 33.5 points per game in his first two games. While that's impossible to keep up, it seems likely that Walker's career is still on the rise after a breakout 2017 campaign. It's not about Walker with this team though, they simply need more from their role players to succeed. Walker will get his, but it's up to players like Nicolas Batum and Jeremy Lamb to help Walker out and take some of the load off of his shoulder. A promising start from Malk Monk is a good sign, as he's averaging 14.5 points per game to lead the Hornets bench. Monk is a highly touted top-10 pick for Charlotte and if they can get him playing up to his potential, this team could be much better than people think.

The Heat (1-1) have been a highwire act in their first two games, with each fixture coming down to the last shot. Miami was on each end of those fixtures, as they lost to the Orlando Magic but beat the Washington Wizards. What's been interesting about those first two games is the lack of defense from Miami, allowing 108 points per game. That simply won't get it done for a team who finished bottom half of the league in nearly every offensive statistic last season and it's a wonder why the defense has been slipping. It looks like a new player is running the show for Miami this season on offense though, with Josh Richardson leading the team with 24.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. If they can get that kind of production from Richardson in addition to the solid play of Goran Dragic and Hassan Whiteside, this could be one of the teams to beat in the east.

Not only did Miami sweep their four-game season series over Charlotte last season, they've won six-straight over them in total.