The Detroit Lions waived wide receiver Tom Kennedy on Thursday and re-signed defensive back Morice Norris to the practice squad after waiving him earlier in the week. Detroit opens a spot on the active roster by waiving Kennedy, which could be used to reinstate Kalif Raymond if he’s able to return from injured reserve.

Detroit is also getting linebacker Alex Anzalone back into the mix ahead of a Week 18 matchup with the Minnesota Vikings.

Anzalone is in the midst of his return-to-play window after a stint on injured reserve, and was a full participant in Thursday’s practice. During the portion of practice open to the media, Anzalone was observed wearing a cast on his injured forearm.

Should Anzalone be deemed ready to play on Sunday, the Lions would welcome his presence. As a veteran who has been reliable and possesses a calm demeanor, the Florida product’s return would be exciting for defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn’s group.

Because of several injuries to the linebacking corps, the group has been targeted in play-action more often as of late. Glenn noted that it was similar to teams testing their secondary before the group fully gelled and had success.

“I think (Lions CB Terrion Arnold) TA early on, he was getting targeted a lot, then he started improving, really. So, I don’t think his targets are actually up to where they were early in the season,” Glenn said. “Amik (Robertson)’s always been a dog. He’s always been a guy that’s been really good in coverage, and I just think at some point they would be like, ‘OK well, who am I going to go at?’ And then they start going at the tight ends. And I can just tell you totally, is it a matchup problem or whatnot. I do know that our guys do a good job in the coverage area when it comes to man coverage. We just have to continue to improve on some of the explosive plays and some of the mistakes as far as switching off on guys and making sure that we don’t have anybody running wide open.”

Dan Campbell said Wednesday that Thursday’s practice would be a big one for Anzalone, as it would allow the staff to observe what he’s able to do within certain drills.

“But listen, I’m looking forward to getting him back out there,” Glenn said. “I can’t say if he’ll be out there this week. He’s getting himself back acclimated to how we do things in practice, and so hopefully we’ll get him back really soon.”

Lions Week 18 Thursday injury report

David Montgomery — NP (Knee)
Christian Mahogany — NP (Illness)
Emmanuel Moseley — NP (Illness)
Alex Anzalone — FP (Forearm)
Jack Campbell — FP (Rib)
Amik Robertson — FP (Calf)
Kalif Raymond — FP (Foot)

Jaden Ivey’s screams of pain were audible through the TV broadcast. The third-year Detroit Pistons guard was lying on the ground and grabbing at his left leg, making no effort to get up.

With 10:07 left to play in the fourth quarter of Wednesday night’s game, he and Orlando Magic guard Cole Anthony each went after a long rebound that was tipped toward the top of the key. The ball came Ivey’s direction, who looked to gather and attack the rim with momentum carrying him toward the lane. Anthony was coming from a side angle and was behind Ivey, but he dove for the ball and beat Ivey to it.

In the process, Ivey was wiped out by the incidental contact. It wasn’t long before each team realized the situation was serious.

“Just gotta pray for the young man,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said of the incident postgame. “It was heartbreaking to see that happen. I mean, you’re out there competing as best as you can and you never want to see that happen to anyone.”

“Yeah, it was devastating,” Magic guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope said postgame. “I didn’t really see what happened. Our Cole Anthony, he just dove for the ball and I just happened to see (Ivey) just hitting the floor. Thought it was just a leg cramp at first or him just turning [his ankle] a little bit, but happened to turn out worse than that.”

As the Magic’s broadcast went to commercial, Ivey’s Pistons teammates began surrounding him and a stretcher was wheeled onto the Little Caesars Arena floor. When it came back from break, the entire Orlando team joined Detroit in huddling around Ivey, who was still yet to be lifted off the court.

“It hurts any time you see a brother go down,” Magic guard Jalen Suggs said Wednesday. “You could hear it in his voice; he was yelling when it happened, the pain that was coming from in him. Yeah, definitely praying for brother. I know he’s a man of his faith. I pray that he leans on that, that God sends him a message, not only heals him and places His hand upon him, but sends him a message and allows him to learn through this time out.

“Just well wishes, sending our love to brother. I’m going to check in on him.”

Cameras focused on Anthony saw him in tears, as were multiple Detroit players and coach J.B Bickerstaff. When Ivey was eventually placed on the stretcher, his left leg was covered in towels. Both teams showed their support for him as he was wheeled off the court for further examination prior to the game’s resumption.

As of Thursday morning, the extent of Ivey’s injury is not yet known.

“Just my thoughts and my prayers – our thoughts and our prayers are with him, praying it’s not as bad as it looked,” Mosley said. “I pray for a speedy recovery, whatever the case may be.”

Mosley said his team spoke during the stoppage in play about praying for and sending well wishes to Ivey, acknowledging it as an unfortunate part of the game that no one ever hopes to see happen. When meeting with the media, he hadn’t yet had the opportunity to speak directly with Anthony but knew he was struggling with the injury he’d accidentally caused.

“He was obviously visibly distraught,” Mosley said. “It’s not something you go out [and] try to do, and I think that, again, my heart breaks for the young man for what happened.”

The fourth-year Magic coach also spoke on finding a way to refocus and generate some momentum out of the stoppage. After all, Orlando was in the midst of another feverish comeback attempt. Said effort was thwarted in a nine-point loss, however.

The process of getting back going? Easier said than done.

“It’s not easy. [We’re] still human beings,” Suggs said, speaking on the challenge of resuming the game following the injury. “It’s still normal to react to those things and feel sorry, have your mind be there for a little bit with him, especially with the moment. Not only for him, but for CA (Cole Anthony), who didn’t try to go out and do it, you know. It was unintentional, was just trying to play hard [and] make a bail play for the team.”

Added Suggs: “It’s just unfortunate that the game works out like that sometimes. So for both guys – CA but definitely Jaden – sending prayers, sending love, and yeah man, hoping for a healthy and speedy recovery.”

“You could see it out there, we all felt for JI (Jaden Ivey),” Caldwell-Pope said.

Ivey finished with 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting, drilling five threes and dishing out four assists in 27 minutes.

Through 30 games this season, he’s averaging career highs in points (17.6), rebounds (4.1), field goal percentage (46.0%) and three-point percentage (40.9%).

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Associated Press

Charlotte Hornets (7-25, 14th in the Eastern Conference) vs. Detroit Pistons (15-18, ninth in the Eastern Conference)

Detroit; Friday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Charlotte will attempt to stop its four-game road losing streak when the Hornets play Detroit.

The Pistons are 11-14 against Eastern Conference opponents. Detroit ranks eighth in the league with 17.0 fast break points per game led by Jaden Ivey averaging 2.9.

The Hornets are 6-22 in Eastern Conference play. Charlotte is 1-13 in games decided by 10 points or more.

The Pistons score 112.0 points per game, 0.8 fewer points than the 112.8 the Hornets give up. The Hornets’ 42.7% shooting percentage from the field this season is 4.6 percentage points lower than the Pistons have given up to their opponents (47.3%).

TOP PERFORMERS: Cade Cunningham is scoring 23.8 points per game with 6.8 rebounds and 9.7 assists for the Pistons.

LaMelo Ball is averaging 30.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 7.5 assists for the Hornets.

LAST 10 GAMES: Pistons: 6-4, averaging 117.3 points, 41.7 rebounds, 27.4 assists, 8.9 steals and 3.8 blocks per game while shooting 48.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 119.6 points per game.

Hornets: 1-9, averaging 104.3 points, 46.4 rebounds, 24.6 assists, 8.6 steals and 4.8 blocks per game while shooting 42.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 113.4 points.

INJURIES: Pistons: Simone Fontecchio: day to day (personal), Jaden Ivey: day to day (leg).

Hornets: Brandon Miller: day to day (ankle), Grant Williams: out for season (acl), Cody Martin: day to day (knee), LaMelo Ball: day to day (wrist), Tre Mann: out (back).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.