The Charlotte Hornets may have pulled off one of the most unlikely wins this season, defeating the reigning champions 124-97. They rolled out a starting lineup of LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, Miles Bridges, and Moussa Diabate, and all things considered, they should stick with it for the rest of the season.
Since the regular season opened, Ryan Kalkbrenner has been the default starting center. The rookie has done an admirable job, turning in a historically efficient shooting from the field while providing the Hornets with the rim deterrent they had been looking for in the past years.
However, an elbow sprain sidelined Kalkbrenner anew versus the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday. It ended up working beautifully for Charlotte, as Diabate was exactly the pivot the team needed against the Western Conference powerhouse.
Rolling over the Thunder
The French big man gave Chet Holmgren fits with his energy, strength, and activity on both ends of the floor. He was also instrumental in limiting Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to 21 points on 7-21 shooting with his ability to switch on the fly on defense.
The box score also showed Diabate's immense impact, as he led all players with 12 rebounds and fell one point shy of recording a double-double. Perhaps the more remarkable stat that deserves recognition is his plus/minus of +21, which was second only to the inspired Brandon Miller's +33.
And that's where Diabate's underrated value lies.
A plus/minus darling
Sure, Kalkbrenner is already a solid player and can develop into a two-way stud for the Hornets, even as his rebounding still needs plenty of work. On the other hand, they already know what they're going to get by playing Moose more.
The fact that many of Charlotte's most effective lineup combinations feature Diabate may come as a surprise to some fans. It's also worth noting that the team's best five-man lineup in terms of net rating consists of Ball, Miller, Knueppel, Bridges, and Diabate.
So, it's clear that the Hornets have to enact the starting lineup change if they want to make some noise in the league this year. Their convincing victory over a healthy Thunder crew has only proven that they are capable of beating any opponent and should be their go-signal to start seriously trying to notch more wins for the remainder of the regular season.
Some might be worried whether taking Diabate off the reserves could result in lackadaisical effort from the second unit's frontcourt. With Tidjane Salaun cooking and PJ Hall delivering quality minutes almost every night, that concern should be easily put to rest.