**What:** Charlotte Hornets (21-28) (9-13 home) vs San Antonio Spurs (32-15) (15-9 away)
**When:** 12:00pm Eastern
**Where:** Spectrum Center; Charlotte, NC
**How to watch:** Prime Video
**Outfitting:** Hornets–City (orange/yellow), Spurs–City (black)
**Game Lines:** Hornets +4.5, Hornets money line +150, O/U 225.5
**Injuries:**
Hornets: Josh Green-probable (achilles), Mason Plumlee-out (groin)
Spurs: Jeremy Sochan-out (quad)
The Hornets are fresh off the hottest January Charlotte has ever seen. And now they carry that momentum in a nationally televised afternoon showdown with Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs, who have become one of the media darlings of the NBA.
The Spurs are unsurprisingly led by their alien, Victor Wembanyama. He’s imposed himself more in his third season after floating a little too much in year two. He’s shooting fewer jumpers and taking advantage of his inhuman length to score around the basket. He’s averaging 24 points per game and can still make threes when he ventures out to take them. And he adds to that nearly three blocks and an immeasurable amount of rim deterrence on the defensive end.
He’s not the only good player the Spurs have though. De’Aaron Fox goes a little under the radar since he isn’t one of the young guns, but he’s averaging 20 points and six assists per game, and he’s still very fast. His backcourt-mate Stephon Castle is a rising two way star. He hasn’t found his 3-point shot yet, but he’s an insanely efficient finisher around the basket. There’s depth on the wings with Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, Julian Champagnie, and Harrison Barnes. Rookie Dylan Harper is trying to find his place and has plenty of good moments of his own. Luke Kornet is a fine backup center.
The Spurs are top ten in both offensive and defensive rating, but it’s their defense that tends to win them more games. That’s not surprising given that just about every player in the rotation is a positive defender. They’re very good on the defensive glass, which could mitigate one of the Hornets’ strengths in their offensive rebounding. It’s a solid team. The Hornets will have to be at their best to win.
The last time the Hornets played a nationally televised game, they laid an egg against the Cavaliers. Now that they have that out of the way, hopefully they’ll play a little more freely in this game. The Spurs being such a heavily discussed team should get the juices flowing. The Hornets have started getting national attention. A win, or even a competitive game against the Spurs on this stage, is only going to increase that.
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