**What:** Charlotte Hornets (23-28) (12-15 away) at Houston Rockets (31-18) (17-5 home)
**When:** 8:00pm Eastern
**Where:** Toyota Center; Houston, TX
**How to watch:** FanDuel Sports Network (without Dell and Eric), NBA League Pass
**Outfitting:** Hornets–Statement (purple), Rockets–Association (white)
**Game Lines:** Hornets +4.5, Hornets money line +154, O/U 216.5
**Injuries:**
Hornets: Tidjane Salaun-questionable (illness)
Rockets: Tari Eason-questionable (leg), Jae’Sean Tate-out (wrist), Steven Adams-out (ankle), Fred VanVleet-out (knee)
First things first, no Eric and Dell on the call tonight. They’ll be working for Amazon Prime, but I can’t find which game they’re calling. In their absence, Sam Farber from the radio broadcast will do the play by play with LaPhonso Ellis doing the analysis. They’re not Eric and Dell, but still a good crew.
Second order of business, I don’t know if Coby White will be playing tonight. He’s not on the injury report, but I’d be surprised if he was able to make his debut just one day after [being acquired via trade](https://atthehive.com/2026/02/04/hornets-acquiring-coby-white-and-mike-conley-jr-in-trade-with-bulls/). And we definitely won’t see Malaki Branham.
With all the players whirring around the NBA, especially yesterday, it’s easy to forget that there are still games to be played. And the Hornets have a tough one. They visit a Rockets team that’s currently fourth in the Western Conference. That said, they’re on the second night of a back to back after getting smoked by the Celtics last night.
Unsurprisingly, Kevin Durant leads the team in scoring, and he’s not too far off his prime production. He’s averaging nearly 26 points per game and is just a couple ticks off yet another 50/40/90 season. Aleperen Sengun and Amen Thompson are the future and the present. Sengun is going to cause problems with his physicality, though Moussa might be able to bother him with his physicality. Thompson still can’t shoot, but he’s such an athletic freak of nature that he’s still difficult to contain. They’ve got good shooting in support with Jabari Smith, Reed Sheppard, and Tari Eason. Our old pal Josh Okogie is there too.
The Rockets are exactly fifth in the league in both offensive and defensive rating. They’re physically imposing and are dominant on the offensive glass. The Hornets got bullied by a similar team earlier this year when they were blown out by the Pistons, but that was before the Hornets hit their stride. It’ll probably look similar to the Spurs game given how well the Spurs guard the basketball. Just get some shots to go down on offense, pack the paint on defense, and protect the basket as best you can, and the win streak just might continue.
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