Moussa Diabate's Quad Injury Sidelines the Hornets Center for Friday

The Charlotte Hornets are officially down a big man for Friday night. Center Moussa Diabate has been ruled out with a quad injury, according to the latest update from Underdog NBA.

If you were banking on the No. 14 jersey logging heavy minutes in the paint to close out the work week, it is time to pivot. Charlotte now has to shuffle a frontcourt rotation that just lost a very large, very athletic human being to a muscle issue.

"Underdog NBA reported: 'Moussa Diabate (quad) ruled out Friday.'"

Diabate is no stranger to the injury report. He popped up earlier this year with ankle and wrist issues, though he managed to play through those. A quad is a different beast. You can tape an ankle or wrap a wrist, but you cannot exactly ignore the massive muscle group required to jump, slide, and box out NBA centers.

For the sickos refreshing their sportsbooks, this absence shifts the board. Without Diabate eating up minutes inside, the rebounding props and interior scoring lines for the rest of the Hornets' bigs are about to get a noticeable bump. The books will adjust, so you should too.

The immediate reality is that Charlotte has to survive Friday night with a thinner rotation. We will see if a weekend of rest is enough to get Diabate's quad right, or if this turns into a multi-game headache for the Hornets.