What: Charlotte Hornets (0-0) vs Brooklyn Nets (0-0)
When: 7:30pm Eastern
Where: Barclays Center; Brooklyn, NY
How to watch: WSOC in Charlotte (check local listings in the rest of the Carolinas), DAZN, NBA League Pass
Outfitting: Hornets–Icon (teal), Nets–Association (white)
Injuries:
Hornets: Kon Knueppel-out (hamstring), Coby White-out (calf), Grant Williams-out (hamstring)
Nets: Tyler Bilodeau-out (shoulder)
We’ve made it. The NBA season already got underway yesterday with a trio of very interesting games. Now most of the rest of the league gets started. Hornets vs Nets is probably one of the least interesting games on the slate from a national perspective. But that’s okay. We love it anyway.
We get to start the season on a bummer note. The Hornets will be without two starters as Kon Knueppel and Coby White are still not back from their muscle injuries. Same goes for Grant Williams, who would probably be the first power forward off the bench. The team has shown they’ll handle most injuries, especially these kind of soft tissue injuries, with an abundance of caution, so it’s not entirely surprising that they’re slow playing the returns of all these guys.
That means we’re likely to see a starting lineup of Dennis Schroder, Grayson Allen, Brandon Miller, Naz Reid, and Moussa Diabate. It doesn’t have quite that bite as it would with Knueppel and White in there, but Christian Anderson’s strong play in the preseason might ease some of those concerns for the guard rotation. And we’ll actually get to watch him play, which wasn’t the case in the two preseason games he played. Some combination of Liam McNeeley, Royce O’Neale, and Sion James should help the wing depth just fine in a pinch.
It helps that tonight’s opponent is a Nets team that isn’t exactly a world beater on paper. Julius Randle and Michael Porter Jr. have found themselves cast away to Brooklyn and are the obvious stars of the team. Both are dangerous scorers, but neither is the type of player I’d expect to anchor a winning team. Egor Demin looked much improved in the summer league and Mikel Brown is a very interesting rookie, but they’re both young guys trying to find their way. The center rotation is Day’Ron Sharpe and Mo Wagner.
If the Hornets can muck up the game enough to make life difficult for at least one of Porter and Randle, the Nets don’t have a whole lot else to pick them up. The rest of the roster fits into the “we’re okay if that guy tries to beat us” category. It’s a winnable game, even for a banged up Hornets team on the road. A win here would be a nice momentum builder before heading back to Charlotte for three straight home games against divisional foes.
