Not even a blizzard can cease NBA basketball. The San Antonio Spurs are touring to Charlotte for a recreation towards the Hornets, with file snowfall anticipated to hit town. For that purpose, the sport was pushed as much as 11 a.m. CT to keep away from the snow. Fortunately, the sport is performed indoors, and the climate received’t affect the play on the court docket (that’s a shot on the NFL).
The Spurs will face the Hornets after an enormous comeback win towards the Houston Rockets on Wednesday. Don’t let their file idiot you, the Hornets are simply as powerful as one in all San Antonio’s Western Convention rivals. Charlotte has received 5 straight video games and has the Sixth-best offensive score within the NBA. The Hornets have run groups off the court docket with their scoring, and blownout groups by 30+ this season. San Antonio has an elite defensive crew, and so they’ll want their protection to indicate up on Saturday.
The Spurs are tied with the Denver Nuggets for second place within the West. They’ll must hold profitable to carry their place on the high of the convention. In the meantime, Charlotte is 2.5 video games out of tenth within the East and gaining floor quick on the Chicago Bulls for a play-in spot. With each groups enjoying good basketball proper now, followers who trudge via the snow ought to have an excellent recreation awaiting them on the Spectrum Middle.
San Antonio Spurs (32-15) vs. Charlotte Hornets (21-28)
January thirty first, 2026 | 11 AM CT
Watch: Amazon Prime | Hear: WOAI (1200 AM)
Spurs Accidents: Harrison Ingram – Out (G League), Stanley Umude – Out (G League), David Jones-Garcia – Out (G League), Jeremy Sochan – Out (quad)
Hornets Accidents: Josh Inexperienced – Possible (achilles), PJ Corridor – Out (G League), Liam McNeeley – Out (G League), Mason Plumlee – Out (groin), Antonio Reeves – Out (G League), KJ Simpson – Out (G League)
Working Charlotte off the road
The Hornets are a terrific three-point taking pictures crew. They’re hitting 15.3 deep balls a recreation at a 37.3% clip, adequate for fifth within the NBA in each classes. With sharpshooters like Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, and LaMelo Ball, the Hornets have a number of gamers who can harm you from deep. Issues get a bit extra blended when Charlotte is contained in the restricted space. They’re taking pictures 46.4% from the sphere this season, nineteenth within the league. The Spurs can mitigate the Hornets’ energy by operating shooters off the road and funneling them to Victor Wembanyama, who can power them into powerful pictures within the paint.
Charlotte can be liable to coughing the ball up. The Hornets flip the ball over 15.7 occasions per recreation, third most within the NBA. They aren’t nice at creating turnovers on the opposite finish to mitigate this challenge. The Spurs may cause havoc defensively after they play the passing lanes. Ball stress from Stephon Citadel and De’Aaron Fox might be essential to serving to San Antonio decelerate the Hornets’ offensive assault.
San Antonio’s guard trio
The Spurs performed a lineup that includes all three of their core guards towards the Rockets on Wednesday. Dylan Harper, Citadel and Fox shared the ground alongside Wembanyama and Devin Vassell, after which Keldon Johnson. This lineup was strong defensively and gave San Antonio loads of playmaking on the offensive finish. The glimpse on the lineup was transient, however engaging. Charlotte is an enormous crew, however given their turnover points and three-point taking pictures, having extra aggressive, fast defenders on the ground on the similar time may show advantageous. It will be enjoyable to get one other have a look at the 3-guard lineup on Saturday.
