Spurs, Hornets each in strong recent form entering faceoff
The San Antonio Spurs will finish off a six-game homestand and look to get back on the winning track after a rare setback when they host the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday afternoon.
The Spurs return to the floor after a 136-131 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Thursday when they played without MVP candidate Victor Wembanyama. Stephon Castle led San Antonio with 30 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists to produce his third career triple-double.
De'Aaron Fox added 27 points, Harrison Barnes had 20, Devin Vassell scored 18, Dylan Harper hit for 13 and Carter Bryant contributed 10 for the Spurs, who had a five-game winning streak snapped.
"It's just hard to game plan against when you have so many people who can get you 20 (points), sometimes 30 a night," Vassell said about the Spurs' quality depth.
San Antonio, which was outscored 42-25 in the fourth quarter in Thursday's loss, has still won 16 of its past 18 games.
Wembanyama, who sat out with right ankle soreness, missed his first game since Jan. 3. San Antonio is now 10-5 without him this season. Wembanyama was a game-time decision to play Thursday and will likely be in the same mode for Saturday afternoon's contest.
"It was a close call because there's a chance he could play, but it was clear it was the right decision in terms of there was nothing we wanted to risk," Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. "(That's) kind of been the north star of every decision we've made (regarding his health). Hopefully, the rest will do him good."
The Hornets won the only other game between the teams this season, beating San Antonio 111-106 in Charlotte on Jan. 31, one of just nine contests the Spurs have dropped in 33 games since the calendar turned to 2026.
Charlotte heads to San Antonio for the final game of a four-game road trip after a 117-109 win over the Kings in Sacramento on Wednesday. The Hornets have won two straight outings, eight of their past 10 and have mirrored San Antonio's recent success, albeit in the Eastern Conference.
"I always tell people that (the turnaround started as) a belief and trust in our daily habits, to be honest," Charlotte coach Charles Lee said. "It was things that we were doing from offseason into training camp into the beginning of the season. We dealt with some injuries but the guys continue to trust, commit to getting better, commit to the journey, commit to each other."
LaMelo Ball led the Hornets with 30 points in the win over Sacramento with Miles Bridges scoring nine of his 26 points in a key third-quarter run. Kon Knueppel chipped in with 24 points and Brandon Miller added 20 for Charlotte, with those four combining for 100 of Charlotte's 117 points.
Moussa Diabate was the game's leading rebounder with 10, six coming on the offensive end.
The Hornets went 19 of 40 (47.5%) on its 3-point attempts and outscored Sacramento 57-24 from beyond the arc. But Lee opined that it was his team's defense that made the difference.
"Besides that first quarter, we were pretty good defensively, holding (Sacramento) under 30 points throughout the rest of the game," Lee said. "Third and fourth quarter, I thought we really tightened the screws and held them under 25."