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The San Antonio Spurs will take on the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday night. With that said, it’s a good time to check out our NBA odds series, which includes our Spurs-Hornets prediction, odds, and pick we have laid out below.
San Antonio is coming off a 115-112 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Thursday. Lonnie Walker was the high man with 30 points off the bench. All-Star guard Dejounte Murray came three assists shy of notching a triple-double with 29 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists. The Spurs (24-39) have now lost three in a row and with 19 games remaining, are slowly losing steam into getting an opportunity for the play-in tournament.
Meanwhile, the Hornets are coming off a massive 119-98 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday, despite All-Star guard LaMelo Ball playing just eight minutes. Terry Rozier scored a team-high 27 points while Kelly Oubre added 17 points off the bench. Charlotte converted 17 triples, 10 of which came from Rozier and Oubre alone and shot a blistering 44.7 percent from long range.
Here is how FanDuel has set the Spurs–Hornets NBA odds for this Saturday night's NBA matchup.
NBA Odds: Spurs–Hornets Odds
San Antonio Spurs: +4 (-112)
Charlotte Hornets: -4 (-108)
Over: 237 (-110)
Under: 237 (-110)
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Why the Spurs could cover the spread
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San Antonio's against the spread record this season has been relatively even at 32-20. Being just 4-point underdogs for this one, there is good reason to believe they could cover this and even come away with a win.
The Spurs are coming off a three-point loss to Sacramento and would want to take that back with a win on Saturday at Charlotte. San Antonio tends to keep games close, as evidenced by their -0.1 point differential this season, which is the closest to zero by any team in the NBA. They also have a -0.8 point differential on the road, which suggests their ability to stick around despite being away from home.
Dejounte Murray continues to prove why he deserved being named an NBA All-Star. The 25-year old is averaging 27.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 9.7 assists in three games since the break. He'll have an interesting matchup against fellow All-Star LaMelo Ball.
Unfortunately for San Antonio, they may be without Devin Vassell (adductor tightness) and Lonnie Walker IV (back tightness), who are both listed as questionable.
Why the Hornets could cover the spread
Like San Antonio, Charlotte also boasts a high-speed offense that is heavy on ball movement. As mentioned earlier, LaMelo Ball only played eight minutes on Thursday due to foul trouble. With the Hornets running away with the game with him off the floor, he really didn't need to go out there, which explains the low playing time. With that, Ball enters Saturday with rejuvenated legs and may want to bounce back with a huge game. His 2-point outing marks his lowest output since going scoreless in his first-ever NBA game.
The Hornets aren't too far behind the Spurs with a point differential of -0.4, which could make this a tough one to predict. But Charlotte is coming off a strong shooting game against Cleveland. With the Hornets looking to protect its standing as the 10th seed, they would want to keep the momentum from that game going and possibly catch the no. 8 seed Nets, who are just one game above them in the win-loss column.
Terry Rozier is finding his stroke in four games since the break. He is averaging 22.7 points while shooting 52.1 percent from the field and 48.4 percent from three over this stretch. The addition of Isaiah Thomas has also boosted the team's bench and his presence in the locker room is already being lauded by the Hornets players. Thomas scored 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting in his 14-minute Hornets debut.
The Hornets have been just an even 15-15 and are just +0.4 point differential at home. They've gone 10-13 against West teams. As for injuries, the Hornets have Gordon Hayward (ankle) and James Bouknight (neck) listed as out, while Jalen McDaniels (ankle) is doubtful.
Final Spurs–Hornets Prediction & Pick
This game features two high-octane offenses in the NBA and there is a good chance they could shatter the over/under if both teams get going. The Spurs rank 4th in pace this season, while Charlotte is at no. 2. Both teams also like to move the ball, with San Antonio ranking 4th in assist percentage, with the Hornets not far behind at 5th. San Antonio holds an over/under record of 33-29, while Charlotte is at 30-33.
As for the ATS pick, it might be safer to go with the Hornets for this. They are coming off a spirited victory over the Cavaliers, despite their All-Star guard basically not playing. Rozier has been on fire as of late and Ball should be more motivated to bounce back from a sub-par showing the last time out.
Final Spurs–Hornets Prediction & Pick: Hornets: -4 (-108)
