10/30 Bobcats v. Rockets Preview

The NBA season is finally here, and starting lineups are almost set! The Bobcats start out the season on Wednesday, October 30, at the Houston Rockets with an 8 p.m. ET tip-off.

After the preseason, the starting lineups appear to be:

        Bobcats                                                   Rockets

PG: Kemba Walker                                         Jeremy Lin

SG: Gerald Henderson                                    James Harden*

SF: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist*                          Chandler Parsons

PF: Cody Zeller                                              Donatas Motiejunas

 C: Al Jefferson*                                             Dwight Howard

(*: Listed on NBA's injury report)

Out of the three guys listed as injured, it looks like Harden and MKG will both play. However, although Jefferson said "The ankle felt good," after Monday's practice, he is still listed as questionable to play Wednesday night. If Jefferson is a scratch, Biyombo should take the start at center.

Even if Jefferson plays, this is a brutal game to start the season with for the Bobcats. Most Bobcats fans should remember Howard with fear from the 2010 playoffs. The Bobcats, in their lone playoff series, threw just about everything at Howard to keep him in foul trouble for all four games. The extra attention on Howard limited him offensively, but opened up the floor for Vince Carter, Jameer Nelson, and Rashard Lewis to hit wide-open threes.

With a healthy D12 seemingly motivated and ready to flip the page with the Rockets, the Bobcats are going to struggle. Zeller and Jefferson are not notably strong defensive players and certainly cannot match Howard's athleticism (after all, few if any other centers can). Biyombo is still a raw prospect, even on the defensive side.

The main reason the team needs to worry about D12 is the same reason he destroyed the Bobcats in 2010—while only putting up 5 points in Game One, 15 in Game Two, 13 in Game Three, and 6 in the clinching Game Four. It's the space he opens up for the shooters around him. The Rockets are built to make opponents choose whether they want to lose by D12's improved post game with pick-and-rolls regularly sprinkled in, or by sharpshooters Harden and Parsons drilling threes from outside.

For away games against championship caliber teams, the Bobcats' best bet this season will be to focus on developing Kemba, MKG, and Zeller as a core of young talent—especially when Jefferson is questionable.