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The San Antonio Spurs host the Charlotte Hornets for the start of the 2022-23 NBA season! It's time to continue our NBA odds series with a Hornets-Spurs prediction and pick.
The Hornets ended last season (43-39) as the 10-seed and lost in the play-in game to the Atlanta Hawks. After starting the season strong and showing a lot of heart, injuries got in the way and the Hornets fell down the East standings. LaMelo Ball averaged 20.1 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 7.6 assists, with 1.6 steals in his second season as a pro. Entering his third season, Ball has the expectations of being one of the top point guards in the East. However, he will start the season on the injury list dealing with an ankle injury.
The Spurs also ended last season as the 10-seed but with a much worse record at (34-48). That was one of the worst if not the worst season under the Gregg Popovich era. As he said earlier in the offseason, putting money down on this team to win anything probably isn't a great idea. The good news is all they need to do is cover the spread but you know the Spurs are going to always play hard with Popovich coaching.
Here are the Hornets-Spurs NBA odds, courtesy of FanDuel
NBA Odds: Hornets-Spurs Odds
Charlotte Hornets: +1 (-114)
San Antonio Spurs: -1 (-106)
Over: 221.5 (-110)
Under: 221.5 (-110)
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Why The Hornets Could Cover The Spread
Without their star player, the Hornets are going to need to rely on Gordon Hayword and Terry Rozier to light a spark. Hayward only played in 49 games last year but did average 15.9 points per game. Rozier averaged 19.3 points per game along with 4.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists. That paired next to Ball will be dynamic this season once he comes back healthy. The Hornets drafted Mark Williams out of Duke and they hope he can be the starting center for years to come. The 7-footer was the 15th overall pick and averaged 11.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks per game.
Last season, the Hornets were great against the spread at (45-36-2). That gets the job done in this business. They won't be facing a tough opponent but you never know what you are going to get in the first game. If they can get everyone involved and start out the season hot like they did in 2o21 then they should be able to cover this spread on the road. Miles Bridges and Kelly Oubre Jr. also need to show up tonight.
Why The Spurs Could Cover The Spread
After trading away rising star DeJounte Murray, the Spurs are left with a handful of unproven talent. It's going to be hard for them to win games with a starting lineup of Tre Jones, Devin Vassell, Jakob Poeltl, Keldon Johnson, and Jeremy Sochan. They are going to try and play scrappy ball and do whatever it takes to win games. But if the opponents are locked in then the Spurs will not be winning very many games.
They are the favorites at home here as Ball is out for this game. It's a short spread and they were also great at covering the spread last season. They finished (44-37-1) ATS and finished (19-11) in games where they were favored. This is a different team now so don't expect much of that to happen again this season. However, the start of the season might be the best we see of them all season.
Final Hornets-Spurs Prediction & Pick
I still like the Hornets to cover this spread on the road and start out 1-0 even without their star player.
Final Hornets-Spurs Prediction & Pick: Hornets +1 (-114)
