The Hornets tip off their preseason this evening in Oklahoma City's Ford Center. The Houston Rockets will be the opponent.

According to the training camp updates over at Hornets.com, both teams are expected to throw their regular season starters out there for the tip. That means Peja's back in uniform for the first time since November 24th last year (319 days ago!), and we'll get our first look at Morris Peterson as a Hornet.

Let's flip to bullet mode for some notes on the game and other random stuff…

• Melvin Ely is not expected to play tonight or tomorrow against the Pacers due to a nasty viral infection. Eric Chenowith may not see much time either on account of that foot injury he picked up last week.
• Those injuries should mean some more time for Hilton Armstrong, Ryan Bowen and perhaps even Anthony Richardson, although he seems to be more of a 3 than a 4.
• Speaking of Bowen, he's not exactly drawing rave reviews over on the HR boards.
• The Rockets starters this evening will be Rafer Alston, Tracy McGrady, Shane Battier, Luis Scola and Yao Ming. Check out their full roster here.
• Our old buddy Kirk Snyder is still in Houston, but apparently there's way too many guys there with guaranteed contracts and something's gotta give.
• In case you were unaware, the Rockets have a new head coach, in the shape of Rick Adelman. In fact, the new coach isn't just the same shape as Rick Adelma, but he actually is Rick Adelman. Apparently the players are loving the new offense, which is based on the same Princeton offense that Byron Scott is preaching.

So enough of that. Well known fact that these preseason games don't mean much anyways. The Hornets went 2-5 in exhibition games last season, while the Mavs finished 3-5 and the Hawks 5-3. Having said that, playing against another team beats the hell out of starters vs. reserves in training camp.

Here's a few things I'll be hoping to see against Houston…

1. Lots of running. Byron Scott's been talking about the Hornets playing at a breakneck pace, even when Chris Paul is sitting. I'd like to see everyone pushing the ball up court and getting some easy scores in transition.
2. Hilton Armstrong holding his own. I'm a little skeptical about all this talk of his improved play. Time to show and prove.
3. Peja moving freely. He can brick every shot he takes, but so long as he can get up and down a few times without a grimace, I'm happy.
4. Julian Wright's impact. It would be cool to see Wright guarding McGrady for a spell. The rook will probably get teabagged, but better now than in the regular season.
5. Adam Haluska vs. Trey Johnson. It should be easy to see which of these two is Byron Scott's favorite over the next couple weeks. Will more PT go to the shooter (Haluska) or the scorer (Johnson)?

The game will be televised locally on FSN. If you don't have FSN for any reason, call over to a friend's house to watch it there. If he doesn't have FSN, ask yourself why you ever made friends with that douche in the first place. Then find solace in the fact that you may be able to view the game online via CCTV5 China. More details on that via the ClutchFans Forum.

Game time is set for 7pm Central. Bring your excited face.