Pistons vs Hornets preview: Potential first round matchup

SB Nation

The Detroit Pistons travel to the Bible Belt to take on the hottest team in the NBA. The Charlotte Hornets are winners of nine in a row, and they’ve been more than an exciting young core. They’re figuring

it out.

The Pistons wear you out with defensive pressure and intensity, while the Charlotte Hornets zoom up and down the floor with an elite offense. With Charlotte’s recent surge and the Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks slipping, Pistons-Hornets is a legit potential first-round matchup. Sign me up for that.

Game Vitals

When: 7:00 p.m. ET

Where: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, North Carolina

How: FanDuel Sports Network Detroit

Odds: Pistons -3

Analysis

The Pistons have been the best team in the East all year, but Charlotte dominated January. The Hornets had a league high 11 wins, the best net rating (11.5), the best offensive rating (121.1), and the fifth best defensive rating (109.6). That’s not a cute team; that’s a group one has to take seriously.

LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, and Kon Knueppel are the team’s foundation. Ball is known for why’d-he-shoot-that shots and lackadaisical defense, but he’s running the show on this winner. Those insane one-legged shot attempts are there, but he’s contributing to winning basketball.

Miller has the potential to be a perennial top 20 scorer. He’s smooth overall and can be vicious when attacking the basket. Knueppel is the easy rookie of the year front-runner in most seasons. His efficiency and shotmaking as a rookie aren’t normal. The way he attacks off the bounce and defends on the other end shouldn’t go under the radar. Knueppel is a complete player with limited holes.

Those are the three this thing in Charlotte starts with. Compare that to three of Detroit’s young core, and you’ll see Detroit still has the upper hand.

Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren (probable) are both All-Stars. Ausar Thompson will more than likely get some league honors under his belt after this season. Those three are as good as it gets as an under-25 trio. Add Ron Holland (out, personal) to the mix, and that’s a fantastic four that front offices would kill to have at their disposal.

Duren is a man amongst boys, but he needs to be ready to go in a matchup against Moussa Diabaté. Per Basketball-Reference, Diabaté is second in the league with a 17 percent offensive rebound percentage. Duren is actually third at 15 percent. Diabaté isn’t the rebounder Duren is overall, but he’s an energy bunny who doesn’t quit on the O glass. He’s the cherry on top of this Hornets roster. Charlotte is 15-8 when he starts this season.

Daniss Jenkins isn’t quite Detroit’s cherry on top, but he’s one of the X-factors who can swing a game. Jenkins is arguably the best two-way player story the league has seen. Congrats to him on getting a new contract. Detroit is going to need his shotmaking, creation for others, and his grit as we inch closer to the postseason.

How can you not love his post-game comments after the Knicks game? That massive chip on his shoulder fits right into Detroit’s contagious culture.

Every game moving forward is another opportunity for Kevin Heurter to get more comfortable in his new environment. Tonight wouldn’t be a bad time for him to find his spark because the Hornets let it fly!

Charlotte shoots the fourth most 3s in the association, and they make the 3rd most. Volume plus efficiency is the name of the game for the Hornets. We know that’s not Detroit’s forte, but they strangle teams defensively. This is the best Pistons defense since their early 2000’s run that featured the best modern-day defense.

If Detroit stays put at No. 1 in the East, I think this is a likely playoff matchup. The Hornets are the 10th seed and would need to win two play-in games on the road to secure the eighth seed if the postseason started today.

I’d favor Charlotte over any team in the East play-in. Orlando, Miami, and Atlanta aren’t as consistent as Charlotte. Orlando has more top-end talent, but the Hornets are on a string, and the roster has bought in.

If it is Pistons-Hornets in the first round, then Detroit wouldn’t have any “easy” matchups. The Hornets have shown they won’t be a cakewalk in any one-off game. The nature of the playoffs can change that when schemes get more tailored to the opponent, but Detroit taking Charlotte out of what they do would be a testament to their great team defense.