Naz Reid (illness) probable Monday vs. Wizards

While Reid’s field-goal percentage in Monday’s win wasn’t anything to write home about, the number of shots he attempted was. The Hornets forward’s 26 attempts are a career high, and he recorded his fourth double-double of the season and his first since October 30. With Kon Knueppel and Brandon Miller out, Reid will have even more opportunities to flourish as a scorer. Hopefully, he shoots the ball more efficiently than he did on Monday.

There weren’t a ton of bright spots for the Hornets as they failed to eclipse 91 points for the fourth time in 10 games to open this season. Boston raced out to a massive 70-39 advantage by halftime and never really looked back. Coming off a season-high 28-point effort against the Nets earlier this week, Reid drew the start in place of an injured Moussa Diabaté (quad) in this one and led Charlotte with 17 shot attempts. He’s shown some signs of life recently after a rough start to his Hornets debut.

Diabaté will miss his first game of the season, which means Ryan Kalkbrenner or Naz Reid could get the start at center. Hannes Steinbach was recalled from the G League, so he could enter the rotation, too.

Diabaté is on the injury report for the first time this season. Hannes Steinbach has been assigned to the G League, so Ryan Kalkbrenner would likely take on extra minutes down low if Diabaté is out. The Hornets could also opt to start Naz Reid at center and utilize a smaller starting unit.

Reid had been going through a rough patch in the season, going five consecutive games without reaching 20 points. Two games ago, he missed all six of his three-point attempts. The 27-year-old big man bounced back nicely Wednesday with a 28 point effort in the loss to the Nets. Reid and the Hornets host the Celtics in NBA Cup action on Friday.

Reid has been in a bit of a funk since Charlotte’s October 24 win over the Heat. Over his last four games, the Hornets’ forward has shot 35.1 percent from the field and 21.7 percent from beyond the arc while averaging 12.8 points per game. That’s not the production fantasy managers were hoping for, especially as the Hornets continue to play without Coby White and Kon Knueppel. Hopefully, Reid can turn things around next week, with the Hornets hosting the Pistons on Monday.

Naz Reid got the start after being benched in the second half of last game, but it looks to be a one game thing. While he didn’t fill up the box score, he still filled up the box score despite it, but it wasn’t a good performance from the Hornets as a whole. If you have Naz, be patient and don’t overreact. He won’t likely go shoot 29.4% from the field and 25% from three very often.

Reid was benched at halftime Wednesday. Hornets coach Charles Lee told reporters after the game that Reid didn’t meet the teams’ standard in the first half and that facilitated the decision to bench him at halftime. Lee didn’t get more specific than that. The move didn’t seem to pay off as the Hornets led by seven at halftime and ended up losing by eight. Fantasy managers with Reid rostered are likely miffed by this whole ordeal, but Lee added that he looks forward to Reid meeting the teams’ standard in the next game, meaning that the benching won’t continue.

It was a rough start to this game for Reid, and he had just two points on 1-of-3 FGs through three quarters. However, he was incredibly aggressive in the fourth quarter, and it paid off. He had 16 points and seven rebounds in just the fourth quarter, which allowed Charlotte to hang on to the win despite a big fourth quarter from Washington. Reid has gotten off to a strong start to the year for Charlotte and should continue to be a big part of their offense.

Added to the Hornets’ injury report late Monday morning, Reid will play against the Wizards. He’ll take on his usual role in the Hornets’ starting five, so those rostering Reid need to ensure that he’s in their active lineups.