What: Charlotte Hornets (3-4) (2-2 home) at Detroit Pistons (5-1) (3-1 away)
When: 7:30pm Eastern
Where: Spectrum Center; Charlotte, NC
How to watch: Local TV (WSOC in Charlotte), DAZN, NBA League Pass
Outfitting: Hornets—Association (white), Pistons—Icon (blue)
Game lines: Hornets +4.5, Hornets money line +145, O/U 210.5
Injuries:
Hornets: Coby White-available (calf), Kon Knueppel-out (hamstring), Grant Williams-out (hamstring)
Pistons: Isaiah Joe-questionable (hip), Jalen Duren-out (hamstring)
The Hornets are currently riding a three game skid that started with a loss to these very same Pistons. To their credit, the Hornets were able to play competitively against last year’s number one seed in the Eastern Conference. They just didn’t have enough offensive firepower to get buckets when the pressure increased late in the game.
They get a boost to help them in that regard tonight. Coby White has been removed from the injury report and will make his season debut tonight. It’s a welcome and unexpected sight. Kon Knueppel made some minor waves by practicing with the Swarm last week, so White being the one to return to the lineup first is pretty surprising. His return pushes Dennis Schroder to the bench and Christian Anderson to the reserves. His ability to create for himself and get to the rim is going to open up a lot of things for a Hornets offense that has gotten bogged down on the perimeter a lot this season. And having Schroder playing off the bench is a much better use of his skill set right now. White might need some time to shake off the rust, but I fully expect White’s return to be a huge boost to the offense.
The Pistons, meanwhile, have been cruising along. They’ve only played one game since the last time these teams met, and it was a comfortable win over the then winless Brooklyn Nets.
This game is likely to be another slugfest. The Hornets have mostly played good defense outside of a few times when games have completely gotten away from them. The Pistons always play good, “physical” defense. The Hornets have been struggling to hit 100 points but they’ve also made it hard for most opponents to get there. The score of the first meeting was 97-89. I wouldn’t be surprised if this game isn’t too dissimilar from that one. The recipe for a win is making life difficult for Cade Cunningham while trying to run the other players off the 3-point line. Paul Reed has finally missed a couple of threes, so hopefully that helps too.
