The Charlotte Hornets will be without the services of Nicolas Batum for Tuesday night's home game against the San Antonio Spurs, according to a report from Rick Bonnell.
Batum has missed the past two games for Charlotte with an illness, which has caused him to lose eight pounds. As a precautionary measure, he'll be held out against the Spurs.
Nic Batum told me he is still suffering from a virus and doesn’t anticipate playing tonight versus Spurs. He’s lost 8 pounds since getting sick.
— Rick Bonnell (@rick_bonnell) March 26, 2019
In his last outing — a 113-106 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night — Batum logged 23 minutes, scoring just two points on 1-of-5 shooting from the field with four rebounds and one block.
With Batum ruled out for Tuesday's game, Dwayne Bacon and Malik Monk will likely see upticks in their usage rates. Willy Hernangomez could see a bit more playing time as well. Bacon, who moved into the starting lineup three games ago, scored a career-high 20 against Toronto on Sunday.
The Hornets have won three straight. A 34-39 overall record has them fighting for the No. 8 seed in the East, but with just nine games remaining on their regular season schedule, time is running thin.
In other Hornets-related injury news, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has cleared concussion protocol, which means he'll be available for Tuesday's match-up. “MKG,” as he's known, has missed the last three games.
Tuesday's Hornets-Spurs game is scheduled to tip inside the Spectrum Center at 7:00 p.m. ET. San Antonio has won 10 of their last twelve games, while Charlotte will be looking for a fourth straight victory.
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