When the Charlotte Hornets' regular-season opener tips off today at 7.30 pm EST in Brooklyn, Kon Knueppel won't be on the court. Neither will Coby White. If Naz Reid is struggling to defend Julius Randle, Charles Lee can't go to Grant Williams.

The Injury Report:

Charlotte Hornets: OUT - Coby White (L Calf), Kon Knueppel (L Hamstring), Grant Williams (R Hamstring), Kylan Boswell (R Knee)

Brooklyn Nets: OUT - Tyler Bilodeau (R Shoulder)

Those are pretty bad circumstances on their own, but not insurmountable. Especially considering the Nets are projected as the worst team in the Eastern Conference by many. Sadly, there's more.

The Previous Meeting:

Brooklyn walloped the Hornets in Spectrum Center just recently to open the preseason. The 124-90 thrashing was not quite as bad as it sounds. Charlotte, also without Brandon Miller in that one, managed to hold their own until late in the second quarter, when the game began to get away.

What followed in the second half was a complete no-show by almost every Hornets player who took the court, while Brooklyn got contributions from the most unlikely sources. A huge part of the hosts' struggles back then was the turnovers - 25, to be exact. Brooklyn had only forced 25 or more turnovers ONCE in all of their 2025-26 regular season.

The second big issue was points in the paint. Brooklyn had 44, Charlotte just 22. Like the turnovers, the inability to get to the rim was another big question mark people around the league had when it came to this Hornets team.

Which makes this even more frustrating. Yes, the injuries are definitely part of how bad the Hornets looked in preseason and against the Nets in particular. But these were the issues the front office wanted to prevent either way with their moves this offseason.

Instead, Naz Reid had 12 preseason turnovers and shot 40% from the field. Dennis Schröder hit just five shots around the rim, where he's usually at his best. Royce O'Neale and Grayson Allen looked the most exciting out of the trade acquisitions.

Key To The Game: Brandon & Naz - Offensive Superstars?

Basketball can be fairly simple sometimes. You're down two key scorers and an important bench player. You still have other players who can step up as shooters, but certainly aren't able to create shots. So, with the way this roster is constructed, the pressure is firmly on Brandon Miller and Naz Reid.

If the Hornets want to have a somewhat fair shot at this one, they have to not only create good shots for themselves and make those. They'll also be damned to create for others. This is, of course, exactly what didn't work at all in the preseason, but that's in the past now. No one would give a lick about those losses if Miller and Reid went out tonight, scored an efficient 20+ points each, and both dished out 5+ assists with 3 or fewer turnovers.

On the defensive end, it will take a team effort. It always does, of course, but even more so in this one. Yes, Michael Porter Jr. and Julius Randle are tough shot makers, but at the core of Brooklyn's offense is the endless number of handoffs they run.

If the Hornets communicate well defensively in those situations, the Nets don't have any great one-on-one players to divert to either. Another interesting tidbit: What do the minutes for Ryan Kalkbrenner look like? He's bound to play deep drop coverage most of the time, so how does Charles Lee use him against a team that likes their bigs roaming around at the perimeter?

Projected Starting Lineups

To hear an in-depth preview for tonight's game, feel free to check out the corresponding episode on the Charlotte Hornets on SI YouTube (HERE) or Spotify () podcast channel.