Charlotte's start comes with more caveats. This is the first season after the Hornets traded LaMelo Ball to Minnesota, and the team now belongs to Brandon Miller, who signed a 5-year, $209 million extension this month. Miller has carried an offense missing Coby White, Kon Knueppel and Grant Williams, and Charles Lee has said he'll know more about White and Williams after this 2-game road trip. The wins over Brooklyn, Miami and Washington were real, but so was the 128-81 beating the Hawks handed them on their own floor.
The number to circle for Charlotte is 35. The Hornets gave up 35 points in the 4th quarter to Miami and then 35 more to Washington, and only the 12-point cushion they built against the Wizards kept that second one from slipping away. A thin bench is what you'd expect when 4 guards and forwards are out, and it tends to show up late, when legs go and the rotation runs out of bodies. Against a Detroit team that will be tired from New York, that late stretch should be the most watchable part of Wednesday's game. The question is which team fades first.
Here's what decides it. Detroit has the best player on the floor in Cunningham, a shooter in Robinson who can bury a short-handed defense, and a home crowd. Charlotte gets a full day off after the Wizards win and catches the Pistons on tired legs, playing small without Duren. If Miller can keep the Hornets close through 3 quarters, this game will come down to Charlotte's 4th-quarter defense against Detroit's tired legs.