Injuries Continue to Pile Up in Hornets' Backcourt

Charlotte Hornets guard Frank Ntilikina exited Thursday night's preseason finale against the Boston Celtics with a left knee hyperextension and did not return.

"He couldn't do anything today," Hornets head coach Steve Clifford said following Friday's practice. "We're going to try to get an MRI this afternoon. He actually felt a lot better but we'll know more by tomorrow."

If Ntilikina is out for an extended period of time, the Hornets are going to have to get creative with the backcourt rotation. James Bouknight (knee), Theo Maledon (shoulder), Cody Martin (knee), and Bryce McGowens (ankle) are already sidelined.

"We can play Brandon [Miller] there. We can play Gordon [Hayward] there," Clifford stated. 'We can play JT [Thor] more. Hopefully, Frank's [injury] just isn't a big deal. We'd probably play bigger."

By this statement alone, I'd assume this means the staff is not quite comfortable with rookies Nick Smith Jr. and Amari Bailey.

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