NBA Halloween: Playing trick-or-treat with 2017-18 early season trends

Charlotte Hornets

Dwight Howard’s resurgence: Treat

This call looks bad after Dwight Howard put up a two-point, seven-rebound, 1-for-9 stinker Monday night, but before that game, he was averaging 15.7 points, a league-leading 16.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game in his first six appearances with the Charlotte Hornets.

This matters after one trendy preseason prediction revolved around Cody Zeller eventually replacing D-12 in the starting lineup. After all, the Hornets were 33-29 with him on the floor last year, compared to an appalling 3-17 without him.

However, people forget that Steve Clifford worked with Howard as an assistant in Orlando and L.A., so if anyone knows how to properly use the big man, it’s him. The early returns look good, so we’re buying into the unlikely scenario where Howard experiences a career resurgence at age 31.