On Friday night, the two worst teams in the Eastern Conference will face each other in the Motor City as the Charlotte Hornets travel to play the Detroit Pistons. The Hornets are on the second half of a back-to-back set after facing the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night and before that, they suffered a 124-115 loss against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night, despite covering the line as an 11-point underdog. Meanwhile, the Pistons were supposed to host the Washington Wizards on Wednesday but the game was postponed due to an ice storm that kept them in Dallas. On Monday, the Pistons lost to the Dallas Mavericks 111-105, but they also covered the line as a 10-point underdog.
Historically, the Hornets hold a narrow 62-60 advantage over the Pistons in regular season games, but the Pistons have won the last two meetings, including a 141-134 overtime road win in the first meeting this season on December 14, 2022. With a record of 15-37, the Hornets sit in last place in the Southeast Division, 22 games behind the first-placed Boston Celtics and 14 games behind the Miami Heat for the final guaranteed playoff spot. They are also 9 games behind the Indiana Pacers for the final play-in tournament spot. So far this season, the Hornets are 2-5 in the second game of back-to-back situations and 8-21 on the road with a negative 6.7 points per game scoring margin. They are 8-24 against teams from the Eastern Conference and 25th in the league in scoring offense with 112.3 points per game.
The Pistons, who have a record of 13-40, are in last place in the Central Division, 24 games behind the first-placed Milwaukee Bucks. They are last in the Eastern Conference and 11 games behind the Indiana Pacers for the final play-in tournament spot. On the season, the Pistons are 22nd in the league in scoring offense with an average of 112.6 points per game and 21st in rebounding with an average of 42.4 boards per contest. Bojan Bogdanovic leads the team in scoring with 22.9 points per game, followed by Jerami Grant (20.5 points) and Mason Plumlee (10.5 points).
Both teams will have their own challenges heading into this game, with Charlotte missing players like James Bouknight and Dennis Smith Jr. due to injury and Detroit missing several key players as well, including Jerami Grant and Hamidou Diallo. Despite their records and challenges, both teams will be determined to come out on top in this battle of the Eastern Conference’s worst teams.
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