Retour
Once again, the Charlotte Hornets will be without 40% of their starting lineup, with Coby White (L Calf) and Kon Knueppel (L Hamstring) in street clothes for tonight's home game against the Washington Wizards. Grant Williams (R Hamstring) remains out as well.
Naz Reid was added to the injury report earlier in the day, but will be good to go tonight, giving Charlotte the starting five for its first three games of the year. For Washington, they will be without star rookie AJ Dynbasta.
Let's take a look at the first five for both the Hornets and Wizards.
G Dennis Schröder - How about Dennis' night against Miami? He poured in 25 points on 8/18 shooting, including a 3/7 night from three-point range. A 10-12-point night with solid defense against Washington will do.
G Sion James - It's been a brutal start for Sion offensively, and he hasn't been great defensively either, which is supposed to be his strength. He's got to have a much better night tonight for Charlotte to have a chance to win, and he could be assigned to Trae Young for a good bit, which is a tough task.
G Brandon Miller - It seems like B-Mill heard all of the criticism of his first two games and took it out on Miami on Saturday night, dropping 34 points. The efficiency still isn't where it needs to be, though.
F Naz Reid - Naz is a little under the weather, as mentioned, but will give it a go. In his first three games with the Bugs, he's been phenomenal, averaging 20 points and 8.7 rebounds.
C Moussa Diabaté - Moose will have an interesting battle tonight with a fellow Frenchman in Alex Sarr, who isn't super physical. This is the type of matchup Diabaté should shine in.
G Trae Young - The Trae Young era in D.C. is off to an encouraging start, with the veteran guard averaging 22.3 points and 11.3 assists. He fell one assist shy against Chicago of recording his third consecutive double-double to begin the season.
G Kyshawn George - The three-ball hasn't been there for George thus far, connecting on just 2/15 attempts, but he's still averaging 17 points per night.
G Bilal Coulibaly - The fourth-year guard is averaging close to 10 points per game and playing excellent defense. He gets the nod, but we'll see the Wizards toss out a bunch of backcourt variations, including Bub Carrington and rookie Tre Johnson.
F Anthony Davis - It's going to take some time getting used to seeing a player of Davis' caliber in a Wizards uniform. He may not be in his prime anymore, but he's still a high-level player who can put up big numbers on any given night.
C Alex Sarr - The former No. 2 overall pick is off to a slow start this season, but I think some of that has to do with being lower on the pecking order offensively. With Young, Dynbasta, and Davis, the ball doesn't need to go through him nearly as much.
The Hornets and Wizards are slated to tip the action off at 7 p.m. ET.