The San Antonio Spurs will host the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday, opening up the 2022-23 season for both teams. Last season, the Hornets won both games straight-up and against the spread against the Spurs. Take it for what it is worth, but the Spurs went 1-4 during the preseason, and the Hornets finished 0-5.
The Charlotte Hornets went 43-39 last season and lost in the first game of the Play-In Tournament for the second consecutive season. Regression is expected, as the Hornets' over/under win total is just 33.5 according to BetMGM. The Hornets had a disappointing off-season. Montrezl Harrell left for Philadephia and free agency, and the possible re-signing of Miles Bridges is on standby as he remains a free agent with a pending legal battle. To add to the drama, guard James Bouknight was arrested and charged with a DUI this past weekend.
Slow news day so far:
– James Bouknight's arrest
– LaMelo is “highly doubtful” for opener
– Miles Bridges' latest hearing is scheduled for today
– ESPN pulls the national plug on #Hornets Nov. 2 matchup with the Bulls in Chicago.— Rod Boone (@rodboone) October 17, 2022
The Hornets were one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA last season and ended up firing James Borrego after missing the playoffs for the fourth time in four years. Steve Clifford is the new head coach in Charlotte. Clifford also coached the Hornets from 2013-2018 and most recently, was the head man in Orlando from 2018-21.
The roster still has young talent to build around starting with 21-year-old point guard LaMelo Ball (20.1 ppg, 7.6 apg, 6.7 rpg), but he will miss the season opener due to his ankle. Back from last season, and leading Charlotte into the opener will be Terry Rozier (19.3 ppg, 17.6 PER), Gordon Hayward (15.9 ppg, 15.1 PER), and Kelly Ubre Jr (15 ppg, 15.0 PER).
Click here to bet on player over/unders VS THE HOUSE to 21x your bet OR play in PICK 'EM contests against other people! Get a 1st deposit match up to $50 1st w/ promocode WandW!