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GOOD MORNING SPURS FANS!!
In an unusual morning tipoff, the Spurs face the Hornets in Charlotte. The game was moved up so that the Spurs could leave ahead of an incoming snowfall and travel home safely to face the Magic in San Antonio tomorrow at 3:00.
I don’t ever remember watching an NBA game that tipped off before noon, but I’m sure it’s happened before, and technically this one isn’t breakfast basketball because the game will start a few minutes after noon local time on the east coast.
The Hornets are a dangerous opponent. Their overall record is 21-28, but if you look closer you can see that they’ve been on a tear recently, wining their last five games and with a lot of quality wins over good teams recently, including a 37 point rout of the Sixers, 23 point drubbing of the Nuggets, and a 27 point victory over the Thunder. They also crushed the Utah Jazz 150-95 in on January 10 in Salt Lake City, which seems excessive. Maybe there needs to be a skunk rule in the NBA.
Thursday night’s game was a classic, as the Hornets overcame a 49 point effort from super rookie Cooper Flagg with 37 points from their own rookie star, Kon Knueppel to win 123-121. The Spur are also coming off of a big win, defeating the Houston Rockets 111-99 with a gutty second half defensive performance. Victor Wembanyama led the team, but a solid performances from Stephon Castle was also key, who took on the primary responsibility of guarding Alperen Sengun in the second half which allowed Victor to roam off of Amen Thompson, who hasn’t developed a perimeter game yet. Dylan Harper also had a fine game coming off of the bench, and De’Aaron Fox provided scoring when needed, to make it a team win over the rival Rockets.
The Hornets are an elite three point shooting team, and three point defense has been a weakness for the Spurs this year. It’s going to be interesting to see what adjustments Mitch Johnson is going to make to keep Kon Knueppel and the rest of the Hornets sharpshooters from getting open looks. Let’s GO SPURS!!
Game Prediction:
Boris Diaw makes an appearance in the locker room as the team’s barista, as he provides a variety of caffeinated drinks for the squad. Victor drinks a little too much expresso, and outruns his teammates down the court several times for fast break dunks.
San Antonio Spurs at Charlotte Hornets
January 31, 2026 | 11:00 AM CT
Streaming: Prime
TV: KENS5/Amazon Prime
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