Upset-Minded Charlotte Hornets Head to Detroit to Take On Cade Cunningham and the Pistons

Can the Bugs catch Detroit on the wrong foot?

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Up until yesterday, the Detroit Pistons were the only remaining unbeaten team in the Eastern Conference. Then, they lost to the New York Knicks in a pretty decisive fashion. And now, the Charlotte Hornets will get the chance to add insult to injury on the second night of a back-to-back for Detroit.

The Injury Report:

Charlotte Hornets: OUT - Kon Knueppel (L Hamstring), Coby White (L Calf), Grant Williams (R Hamstring), Kylan Boswell & Michael Ajayi (G-League)

Detroit Pistons: Not Yet Submitted

Even though the Pistons haven't submitted their injury report yet, it's safe to say that Jalen Duren will not be suiting up tonight. Detroit's All-Star big man is laboring a strained hamstring.

Ausar Thompson played against New York but was listed as questionable before the game due to an ankle sprain. The newly acquired Isaiah Joe missed the Knicks game with a hip contusion. It's possible that one or both of them will not play against Charlotte.

Projected Starting Lineups

Hornets	Pistons
Dennis Schröder	Cade Cunningham
Sion James	Duncan Robinson
Brandon Miller	Ausar Thompson
Naz Reid	John Collins
Moussa Diabaté	Paul Reed

What To Expect From Detroit

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Before getting waxed in Madison Square Garden, Detroit racked up three wins to start the regular season: One against Boston on opening night. Another one, a +17 victory in Miami. And maybe most impressively, one against Philadelphia with both Duren and Thompson unavailable.

The Pistons don't play the most exciting brand of basketball because they don't have an extraordinary amount of versatility. What they do have is a fantastic lead guard in Cade Cunningham and a system surrounding him that is proven and battle-tested.

Offensively, players like Duncan Robinson, Kevin Huerter, John Collins, Javonte Green, and Isaiah Joe thrive off of cuts and kickouts. Detroit scores 36.3 points a game out of catch-and-shoot situations, the fourth-most in the league.

Meanwhile, Detroit scores just the 26th most points per game in the paint. Now that Jalen Duren isn't there to be a scoring force on the inside, this is bound to intensify, forcing the Hornets to stay attentive off the ball and on the perimeter.

Even without Duren, another strength of Detroit remains offensive rebounding. Fourth in the NBA in second-chance points and tenth in offensive rebounding percentage tell you about the physicality of this team. Paul Reed, in particular, needs to be boxed out aggressively.

Finally, even if the offense sputters, the Pistons can rely on their defensive identity. They grab the fourth-most defensive rebounds per contest but rank 21st in defensive rebounding percentage.

How do those two stats go together? Simply put, the Pistons force so many misses that despite not grabbing a high percentage of them, they still end up amongst the best rebound-getting teams in the league.

Detroit's opponents shoot just 41.6% from the field. All of this is bad news for a Hornets offense that is going to once again be without two of its primary creators.

On the second night of a back-to-back, without Jalen Duren and maybe even others, it seems possible Charlotte finds a way to somewhat stifle Detroit's offense.

The more difficult question Charles Lee will be asking himself: How can this Hornets team consistently create good shots against a defense that has put a halt to much more gifted offensive teams already this season?

One solution could certainly be capitalizing on turnovers. The Pistons aren't totally careless with the ball, but they do turn it over at an above-average rate.

Unfortunately, the Hornets have been bad this season at forcing turnovers, scoring off turnovers, and scoring on the fast break. Something will have to change in that regard to have a chance at upsetting Detroit.

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