Pistons vs Hornets preview: Third times the charm against the pesky Hornets

Sometimes you wish you could put the season on hold whenever a significant injury happens. In the case of the Pistons, that significant injury is a broken fibula for their rising star guard, Jaden Ivey. But alas, you cannot pause the season so you must move on and keep the daily grind of the NBA season going.

For most teams, a home game against the Charlotte Hornets would be a nice change of pace after facing the gritty Orlando Magic, but the Pistons seem to be cursed against the Charlotte Hornets.

No matter how good or how bad either team is when they play, the Hornets always seem to have the Pistons’ number and it always seems to come in the most heartbreaking ways. I can distinctly remember multiple buzzer beating wins by the Hornets over the years in ways that I cannot remember against other teams.

Hopefully tonight is not one of those heartbreaking wins by the Hornets and the Pistons can keep their hot stretch of play going.

Game Vitals

Where: Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MI
When: Friday, January 3 at 7 pm EST
Watch: Fan Duel Sports Network Detroit
Odds: Pistons (-5.5)

Analysis

The biggest question facing the Pistons right now is how they are going to fill the void left by Jaden Ivey. There is no one player on the team that is able to replicate the things he is able to do, but the Pistons will have to change their starting lineup to fill his spot in the meantime.

The logical choice would be to move Malik Beasley into the starting lineup. He has been the only Pistons player that has shot the ball better than Jaden Ivey this season. However, he does not bring the ability to be a secondary ball handler and has also been a huge asset as a bench scorer this season. I think the bench rotation would flounder too much without his shooting and teams would be able to put a lot of pressure on Cade Cunningham since there wouldn’t be a secondary creator in the starting lineup.

When Jaden Ivey missed a couple games earlier this season, it was Ausar Thompson that filled his spot in the lineup and that is probably what the Pistons will end up doing. I am not sure how viable the spacing will be long term with Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson starting, but Ausar is able to work as a secondary ball handler and is the best perimter defender on the team.

Ron Holland can provide similar defense to Ausar Thompson and is a little bit more of a threat from the perimeter in terms of just being able to make a shot once in a while, but it might be too much to put on him at this point in his career. But, you would be able to keep players locked into the roles they already have off the bench, so you are not disrupting the bench unit as much since Holland isn’t always consistently a part of that unit.

Whatever JB Bickerstaff does decide to do, players like Ron Holland and Marcus Sasser are going to have to step up and take on more of a load than they have been regardless of whether they are starting or not. I think both players can handle it, but it will be a bit of a sink or swim moment for Ron Holland, who has been great in his limited energy burst minutes.

The Hornets are in the midst of an 8 game losing streak, but that does not matter at all when it comes to facing the Pistons. Their two wins over the Pistons this season have come by a combined 4 points with one of them being a buzzer beater on a missed boxout. In both games, the Pistons had a pretty sizeable lead at one point in the game.

In the first game, LaMelo Ball went unconscious in the 4th quarter to steal the win and in last game Brandon Miller did the same before continuing it into overtime to steal another win. For whatever reason, both Miller and Ball have their best games against the Pistons, so if they let either get hot again we could be in for another long night.

Personally, I think the Hornets are better than their 7-25 record, but similar to the Pistons last season, when you don’t have reliable veterans around your solid young core, you tend to lose games you shouldn’t lose and go on long losing streaks.

The greatest cure for a losing streak is to face a team that you play your best games against, so a matchup with the Pistons is exactly what the doctor ordered for the Charlotte Hornets.

Hopefully, the Pistons don’t play like they did the last time they were favored at home against an inferior team in the Utah Jazz.

Lineups

Charlotte Hornets (7-25): LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Josh Green, Miles Bridges, Mark Williams

Detroit Pistons (15-18): Cade Cunningham, Tim Hardaway Jr, Ausar Thompson, Tobias Harris, Jalen Duren

Question of the Day

What should the Pistons do with their starting lineup? Should they go with the status quo or do some bolder?