What to Expect as Hornets Begin NBA Cup Run vs. Wizards, Dybantsa

What to expect against Washington and it's number one pick

IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

You need short memory to survive in the NBA, and the Charlotte Hornets showed that just about a week ago, when they bounced back from a 47-point loss with an upset victory over the Miami Heat. They'll need a similar kind of bravado tonight.

Only this time around, they don't need to bounce back from a blowout loss but rather a close one that was accompanied by... a locker room issue? ... a lack of effort? It's really hard to tell. Whatever it was, it resulted in the benching of Naz Reid for the entire second half, which arguably cost Charlotte the game.

Reid will be crucial to the Hornets' success tonight. When Charlotte trumped the Wizards 110-103 just a few days ago, he was crucial with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Even more crucial, though, was Brandon Miller, who torched Washington with a career-high 39 points.

The Injury Report:

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

Detroit Pistons: OUT - Jamir Watkins (L ACL), Tristan Vukcevic (L Hip), Justin Champagnie (R Foot) Questionable - Tre Johnson (R Achilles)

Uh-Oh! Kon Knueppel, Coby White, and Grant Williams have been regulars on the injury report for a while now. But the addition of Dennis Schröder is very concerning. Should the only remaining experienced point guard on this roster go out, the rotation immediately becomes much more difficult to organize.

Realistically, the only options left at that point would be rookie point guard Christian Anderson Jr. and pseudo-point guard Sion James. Both have looked very shaky offensively to start the season. Anderson Jr., a fantastic shooter over his career, has hit one three and committed nine turnovers so far. James is four-for-twenty-four (!) from deep so far.

Projected Starting Lineups (w/o Schröder)

Hornets	Wizards
Sion James	Trae Young
Grayson Allen	Kyshawn George
Brandon Miller	AJ Dybantsa
Naz Reid	Anthony Davis
Moussa Diabaté	Alex Sarr

What To Expect From Washington

Of course, some of the learnings from the first game against Washington still apply. Trae Young and Anthony Davis, but also Kyshawn George to some extent, can really force the issue when they try to get to the free-throw line. The Hornets did a fantastic job of not getting into foul trouble the other night, only allowing the Wizards a season-low 15 free-throw attempts.

Also still very much present will be the Wizards' inside-heavy scoring approach. They rank second-to-last in catch-and-shoot points per game at 20.2, only beating out the Sacramento Kings. For comparison, the Hornets rank fifteenth in that category with 30.8 catch-and-shoot points per game.

Accordingly, Charles Lee will instruct his team to live with slightly contested three-pointers, as long as it's not a wide-open pull-up for Trae Young or Anthony Davis. Justin Champagnie being out after suffering a foot fracture earlier this week only amplifies those issues on Washington's end.

One thing has changed, though, since these two teams met on Monday. This year's number one pick, AJ Dybantsa, made his NBA debut after missing the first few games due to injury. He scored 19 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers on 8-of-12 shooting from the field.

He certainly won't alleviate any of the Wizards' defensive worries, but he's another scoring weapon in Washington's arsenal that can put pressure on the rim. It'll again take a good effort out of Moussa Diabaté, Ryan Kalkbrenner, and maybe Hannes Steinbach to not only guard Anthony Davis but also wall off Trae Young, Dybantsa, and co.

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