Charlotte Hornets: Perfect With One Game to Go
The Charlotte Hornets kept winning last night as they beat the Detroit Pistons 99-94 in Auburn Hills. The Hornets remain a perfect 7-0 on the preseason as they head into the finale against the Indiana Pacers.
The Hornets are dealing with a handful of injury issues. By this time you probably know that Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is out for much of the season. Jeremy Lamb and Kemba Walker also sat last night to deal with injury issues.
The result was a starting lineup that included the likes of Al Jefferson, Cody Zeller, Marvin Williams, Nicolas Batum, and Jeremy Lin. This marked the second time that Williams was used as the starting small forward, allowing Batum to remain at the off guard.
The Hornets offense is supposed to be based around Big Al and the hype was that it would run through Batum. That theory worked for one night at least. Batum continued to channel some Stephen Jackson by putting up a double-double. He led scoring with eighteen and rebounds with ten. He also had six assists. Jefferson had seventeen points and Lin continued to impress with eighteen more.
On defense, the Hornets had no answers for Andre Drummond. The young center simply bullied his way to twenty-one points in the middle of the Hornets defense. There was a Reggie Bullock sighting as the former Tar Heel scored six off the bench. The Pistons play a style not dissimilar from the Hornets as their main lineup is Drummond and a bunch of shooters.
The key bench performance belonged to the Hornets. With minutes at the two guard being a critical commodity, Troy Daniels came on to score fifteen points off the bench in seventeen minutes. Damien Wilkins also made a rare appearance although he only contributed two points to the winning margin.
The Hornets finish off the preseason with a trip to Indiana today. Neither team will feature Lance Stephenson.