The Charlotte Hornets will be flying home after a visit to Cleveland today, to face the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs, once a formidable road team, have been struggling without their All-Stars and look to be easy prey for any host, but it could be a matter of time until they turn it around.
Spurs at Hornets
Spread: Charlotte Hornets -2 (-110) at BetDSI Sportsbook
Total: o/u 205.5 points (-110)
The Spurs falter on the road again, lose in Nawlinz
This last loss, 107-91 to the New Orleans Pelicans, isn’t much different from the previous road attempts. The San Antonio Spurs couldn’t hit shots from the deep, and once the opposition created some separation, they would budge, give up and get blown out. As a common theme, they tend to become overreliant on their power forward Aldridge, and nobody’s trying to step up and play more than he’s supposed to (and mostly, not even up to what’s asked of him).
The Spurs started strong Wednesday behind Pau Gasol and LaMarcus Aldridge, rolling off a 17-0 lead in the first quarter to take a 17-2 lead. Davis and Cousins, meanwhile, couldn’t be contained for long. An atrocious second quarter on both ends, in which the Spurs were outscored 33-13, resulted in an eight-point lead for New Orleans at the half. The Pelicans’ pair of All-Star big men combined for 20 points in the quarter, as New Orleans feasted after Gasol and Aldridge took a breather. After keeping in close with starters in during the first part of the third, the same thing happened as soon as the reserves reentered the game. The 8-point deficit became -20 in a blur, and the Spurs just quit from there. The Spurs’ offensive woes were concerning, considering New Orleans was less than a week from surrendering 146 points in a loss to Denver. Mills and Green combined for 1-of-12 shooting, and the backup combo of Forbes and Ginobili was 1-of-8. In the end, 39.8 percent and 6-of-24 of three-point tries – with Gasol shooting 3-of-5. LMA and Pau held their part with solid shooting and a good sign is that Gay looked like himself again. Still, with almost no points coming from their backcourt, the game turned into the third double-digit loss of the month. The Spurs didn’t defend much of anything Wednesday either – the Pelicans shot 48 percent through the usual sources and had 50 points in the paint.
There are no words on Leonard and Parker yet, but their return is not around the corner, so the Spurs will have to stick to the current player rotation for now. They are playing the majority of the next three weeks of schedule away from home, and they better start competing there.
Place: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, North Carolina
Date/Time: Saturday, November 25th, 2017. 7:00 PM ET
TV Coverage: FSSE-C, FSSW
Charlotte travels back home after short trip to Cleveland
The Hornets are playing in Cleveland tonight, looking to build on a modest win streak and fight off the road ghosts that have been chasing them early in the season. However, no matter how the game pans out, they’ll be happy to return to their own arena, where they’ve entertained their own fans with solid basketball and wins. Whether they’ll have their playmaking wing Nic Batum back, remains to be seen, and it could mean the difference playing two sides they rarely beat in the last decade and more.
The Hornets stole a victory from visiting Wizards in the last one, beating them in overtime after a last minutes’ surge in regulation. I’ve already reviewed this game in my preview for the Cleveland game, so let’s instead focus on the Hornets statistics. Charlotte is very good in two fundamental basketball elements – getting to the free throw line and taking care of the ball. They commit least turnovers per game of all NBA teams, but are also second-worst in forcing them. Recently, Clifford has been playing Michael Carter-Williams more, for his length, at the two-guard spot. Taking him off the ball is certainly a way of keeping your own turnovers down, and the hope is that he’ll manufacture some steals on the other end. However, MCW surely won’t fix Hornets woes shooting from outside. The Hornets only take 26 shot from the deep, and lack of threat from outside makes the opposing defense collapse in the paint. They also didn’t have enough drive and kick chances without Batum, so they are just 29th in assists. Too few passes lead to just the 20th best offense when it comes to scoring – 106.9 points per game, and they actually play at a decent pace. Statistically, the Hornets play an above average defense. They give up 106.5 points to 44 percent shooting, and they do it without fouling much – all top 12 feats.
Batum exited the previous game with a left elbow contusion and it is uncertain if it will obstruct his availability for Friday’s tilt against the Cavaliers. He traveled with the team, so it’s probably not bad, but as he’s a game-time decision, it’s unknown whether he’ll be ready to play against the Spurs.
San Antonio Spurs at Charlotte Hornets Game Trends & Prediction
San Antonio disappointed on the road again, falling to a miserable 1-7 record against the spread. They are 9-9 overall, a night and day difference between home and away games. The difference is that they tend to give up on the road, and it also results in their inability to score. The Spurs are 7-11 against the over/under, with most of the difference coming in on the road, where they are 2-6 so far.
Practically the same thing is happening to Charlotte. They managed to beat the odds at home, but can’t pull wins when visiting other locations. Prior to tonight’s game in Cleveland, the Hornets are 8-8-1 ATS, and 7-2 in Spectrum Center. After three recent overs, the Hornets are 9-8 against the total points line, 5-4 at home.
Admi-Rank: Incredibly, the Spurs are the third-best team in the West when you look at the standings, but fairly enough, their rank hasn’t been lower than this in years, if not decades. They are currently showing ball just above NBA average and will continue to slide until they show me that they can win on the road. The Hornets were heading in the right direction with Batum and have managed to narrow the gap between two sides.
Wins over the Spurs have been super rare for the Hornets (they won only 3 of their last 25 encounters), but if both teams trends mean anything, they will have an opportunity here. The Spurs hunger for wins seem to have waned a bit – they are more focused on play the right way, improving on what they do, than winning. It’s evidenced by Popovich not using all tools and all means to win – like Hack-a-Howard, for instance. Still, when Spurs long shot are falling, and their defense locks in, they can cause trouble to all teams, much more talented than the Hornets, who simply need Batum’s ball distribution to create more quality shots.
I will go with the Spurs and the Over in this matchup.
My Pick: San Antonio Spurs +2 (-110)
Total: Over 205.5 points (-110)
