Preview: Hornets take on Pistons in key matchup for lottery positioning

Feb 3, 2023 - 8:30 PM

Charlotte Hornets" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/AHFaea09ZUEzPicX8fEPyood3cs=/0x0:4898x2755/1920x1080/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71938447/1449239287.0.jpg" />

What: Charlotte Hornets (15-38) at Detroit Pistons (13-39)

When: 7:00 pm EST

Where: Little Caesars Arena; Detroit, MI

How to watch: Bally Sports Southeast, NBA League Pass

Outfitting: Hornets—Association (white), Pistons—Classic (teal)

The Hornets take on the Pistons for the second of what will be four meetings this season. Coincidentally enough, the first matchup also featured the Hornets in their whites against the Pistons in their old school teals.

In that first matchup, Killian Hayes had one of the best games of his career as the Pistons took down the Hornets in overtime 141-134. The Hornets struggled to operate a cohesive offense and used pure volume and offensive rebounds to match the Pistons hyper efficient offense. The eventually fell off in overtime and took the defeat.

The efficient offense we saw from the Pistons in the first meeting is not the norm for the Pistons. They have the 26th ranked offense in the league and shoot the 26th best percentage from the field in the league.

Bojan Bogdanovic leads the Pistons in scoring as the graybeard of the bunch. Jaden Ivey has had a strong rookie season while Jalen Duren is an MVP candidate and future Hall of Famer averaging eight points and eight rebounds per contest. He’s been a force on the offensive glass, and it’ll be fun to see him match up against Mark Williams when the second units are on the floor.