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With a snowpocalypse approaching Charlotte, North Carolina and much of the Atlantic seaboard, a game that was already an early tip-off due to the Spurs having another afternoon game tomorrow got pushed even further back to 11:00 AM CT to hopefully give them adequate time to play and get out of dodge. Unlike the snowy exterior, things were red hot inside Spectrum Center, especially for the Hornets, who used a big second quarter to put the Spurs in a hole they couldn’t quite climb out of despite winning both second-half quarters.
You wouldn’t know this was an early start with the way both teams started on offense, with plenty of ball movement and energy. The Spurs started 4-7, although they were missing some easy looks near the rim, but the Hornets started 6-8 to lead 10-15 early after a 7-0 run. A block from Devin Vassell, who returned to the starting lineup in place of Harrison Barnes, led to a four-point play from Julian Champagnie to take the lead back at 22-20, and the pace started to settled down a bit as the bench units checked in. Dylan Harper was ready to battle with fellow rookie Kon Knueppel, getting 7 early points off the bench, and the Spurs led 30-26 after a wild first quarter, in part courtesy of an 6-0 advantage on the fast break.
The Spurs tacked on two more fast break dunks to start the second quarter, but former Utah starter Collin Sexton, who has always been a thorn in their side, gave the Spurs trouble off the Hornets bench with 10 quick points, and a 10-2 Hornets run gave them the lead, 41-40, after the Spurs had led by as much as seven. Things were tied up at 45 apiece with 3:30 remaining in the half, but that’s when everything started falling apart for the Spurs. Struggles with half court offense, turnovers and a rough half from Victor Wembanyama (4 points on 2-8 shooting, 0 defensive rebounds and out of place on defense) all helped contribute to a Hornets 16-2 run to close the half. That included three straight threes from his draft class rival Brandon Miller, who had 18 points at the half, including a four-point play on the second one as Wemby fouled him, and another brutal closing to a half had a Spurs team that had seemed in control most of the time suddenly down 61-47.
Charlotte scored the first two buckets out of halftime and led by as much as 20, with the basketball gods seemingly on their side as Miller hit two more shots that had no business going in. Still, the Spurs appeared to come out with a renewed focus. They slowly grinded away and absorbed a few more Hornets mini-runs to get within single digits a couple of times off threes from Juilan Champagnie and Barnes. It could have been even closer by the end of the third quarter, but a couple of late threes off offensive rebounds by Sexton and Knueppel kept the lead at ten, 85-75, with 12 minutes to go.
Control was a subjective word in this game, because the Spurs seemed to be more “in control” of their own game than the Hornets at times, but the Hornets were thriving off of broken plays and chaos, hitting threes off scrambles and near-turnovers. One such three from Grant Williams got the lead back out to 13 at 96-83, but veteran Barnes briefly returned to form, hitting two straight threes to kick off a Spurs 15-4 run, which also included five straight points from Castle to help cut the lead to two, 100-98, and force a Hornets timeout. That would be as close as the Spurs got, as they just couldn’t do enough to take the lead. Barnes fouled Miles Bridges late on a three (as in well after he had released the ball) to give them a five-point lead with a minute to go. Wemby had a chance to tie things up soon after but took an ill-advised three early in the shot clock, missing badly with 25 seconds to go, and Miller sealed the outcome with two free throws, giving Charlotte the 111-106 win and their first six-game winning streak since 2016.
* Another first since 2016 was Barnes coming off the bench, with Vassell returning to the starting lineup in his place instead of Julian Champagnie’s. It must have been a tough a decision to end a ten-year streak for a beloved veteran, but something needed to change. Even if it wasn’t his finest outing, Vassell was energetic and more willing to shoot than Barnes had been lately, hitting his two threes in the first quarter on his way 15 points overall. Barnes started poorly off the bench, missing his two attempts and committed a rare over-and-back penalty in the first half, but then he was a key part of their late comeback attempt despite the foul on Bridges.
* It was quite the battle between rookies Harper and Knueppel. Harper was the Spurs’ leading scorer with 20 points while slicing through the Hornets defense and hitting 2-3 threes, and the Spurs did a good job of holding Knueppel, who is already a 50/40/90 shooter, in check on the other end. They did a good job of swarming him on defense, holding to just 13 points and 1-4 from three, although the one he did make was a huge one late in the third to keep the Spurs from stealing too much momentum.
* This felt like one of Wemby’s worst games of the season. He was out of step defensively, coming close but never recording a block, and his shot just wasn’t there, even around the rim, as he finished with 16 points on 6-15 shooting. To his credit, he tried to be more assertive in the second half, recording seven rebounds after just one offensive one in the first, but it was one of those games he’d rather forget.
* What gave Wemby a chance to tie things late was Johnson challenged a call on another three-point foul after Miller landed on Fox’s foot with 36 seconds to go. It was pretty obvious it would be overturned because Fox went straight up and down while Miller extended his leg out late to create the contact, and that was exactly the case after video review. However, the announcers didn’t seem to know the rule, believing it would be upheld while claiming that was Miller’s “natural shooting motion” when it clearly wasn’t. Overall, Prime has done a good job of putting together their NBA ensemble, but these fellas could use a little education on three-point foul rules.
**3:00 PM CT on FanDuel Sports**
Assuming the Spurs can beat the weather and make it back to San Antonio, they’ll have another early tip-off against a Magic team that is tough but continues to hover around .500.
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