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What: Charlotte Hornets (16-36) at Detroit Pistons (19-36)
When: 7:00 pm EST
Where: Little Caesar’s Arena (yum); Detroit, MI
How to watch: Fox Sports Southeast, NBA League Pass
The Hornets own real estate within the collective head of the Pistons. They took all of the first three games against their rival from Michigan (I’m calling this a rivalry now) this season by seven total points, giving them nine straight wins over the Pistons overall.
This season series hasn’t been short on drama. Malik Monk buried a game winning buzzer beater in the first meeting. The second game saw Derrick Rose throw an exploding grenade to Luke Kennard instead of putting up a potential game winning shot. The third was saved by a Bismack Biyombo block of an Andre Drummond dunk attempt before a half court heave by Langston Galloway barely rimmed out at the buzzer.
The Hornets will try to make it four-for-four against a dramatically different Pistons team. Andre Drummond was sent off to the Cleveland Cavaliers for contract flotsam and a distant second round pick. Seemingly half of the current roster is on the injury report, so there’s no telling who’s actually going to play tonight. Luke Kennard has been out for weeks with knee issues, and his return doesn’t seem imminent. Derrick Rose has been sidelined with a hip injury, and there’s no word on his status for tonight’s game. Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk is out with a hip injury of his own. Markeiff Morris (illness) and Brandon Knight (knee) are both questionable.
Reggie Jackson and Christian Wood have been the Pistons’ go to scorers in the two games since the trade deadline, and Wood has hauled in 11.5 rebounds per game to boot. Rookie Sekou Doumbouya has been getting decent minutes, so Hornets fans who wanted the team to take a chance on the Frenchman in the draft will get to see him up close tonight.
The Hornets will be trotting out a new-look lineup of their own. We saw Caleb Martin and Jalen McDaniels get the first extended minutes of their young careers. With Cody Martin (concussion) and Nicolas Batum (illness) both out, they look to be in line for big minutes once again.