NBA
Washington Wizards vs. Charlotte Hornets Picks, Preview, and Prediction
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated17 Nov 2021
The Washington Wizards travel to the Spectrum Center in lovely North Carolina for a road matchup with the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday evening. The Wizards (10-3) are off to a scorching start this season, winning 10 of their first 13 games. The Hornets (8-7) are playing promising basketball, coming off a victory against the Golden State Warriors two nights ago. The Hornets open this game as slight home favorites.
Washington Wizards vs. Charlotte Hornets Betting Lines
At Basketball Insiders, we get all of our game lines and information from the best betting sites. All of the game lines that are featured below are taken from BetUS.
Point Spread: Charlotte Hornets -1
Money Line: N/A
Total: Over/Under 215.5
Washington Wizards vs. Charlotte Hornets Injury Report
The Wizards will continue to be without Davis Bertans (ankle) and Rui Hachimura (personal) for this road tilt. Both are expected back sometime next week. Tomas Bryant (knee) continues to rehab from offseason knee surgery and is not expected back until after Christmas.
Gordon Heyward (hamstring) is a game-time decision for the Hornets. Due to his sketchy injury history, expect him to miss this game. P.J. Washington (elbow) is not expected back until at least Nov.19th.
Washington Wizards vs. Charlotte Hornets Preview
Rejuvenated Wizards Riding High
The Wizards are off to a hot 10-3 start this season, which is a stark contrast to their 3-9 start the year before. They have been playing excellent on the defensive side of the ball, ranking fourth in defensive rating through the first three weeks of the season. Although ranking 19th in 3-point percentage, they’ve made up for it with solid paint play while shooting it at a 46.2% clip.
🔋 THE ENERGY 🔋
↕️ ↕️
😤 @MONSTATREZZ DOES THIS 😤 pic.twitter.com/8P39DTgxvL
— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) November 16, 2021
They’re only averaging 108.7 points per game, but are giving up a very respectable 103.8 (ranked 6th). Bradley Beal isn’t being forced to carry all of the offensive load, and that’s helped him average 5.6 dimes per game in addition to his 23.3 points. It’s been a great start for the perennially rebuilding Wizards as they hope to continue their momentum on the road against a young Hornets team. Who knows how long this will last, but if they can continue to ramp up the defensive intensity they’ll be competitive in a lot of games.
Bridges and Hornets Looking for Groove
The Hornets are scoring in bunches to start the year, averaging 114.5 points per game on 45% shooting. Miles Bridges has seen a career resurgence in his third season. The Michigan State product is averaging 21.3 points and 7.5 boards through 14 games. Although putting up impressive offensive statistics, Charlotte has been lackluster on the defensive side of the ball, ranking 28th in defensive rating through two weeks.
Drilling Thr33s is what we do 👌#AllFly | @Lowes pic.twitter.com/vchnm7xUNL
— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) November 17, 2021
They’ve been getting pushed around on the glass, ranking next to last in rebounding percentage and giving up a league-worst 118 points per game. It’s safe to assume both extremes to average out over the course of the year. Are the Hornets this bad defensively? Probably not, but they won’t sit 2nd in the NBA in points per game too much longer either. Either way, it has been a promising start to the season.
Washington Wizards vs. Charlotte Hornets Prediction and Picks
The Wizards are off to a hot 10-3 start this season, which is a far cry from their deplorable starts over the last four seasons. They have been playing excellent on the defensive side of the ball, ranking fourth in defensive rating through the first three weeks of the season.
Although ranking 19th in 3-point percentage, they’ve made up for it with solid paint play while shooting it at a 46.2% clip. Washington has also shot freebies at an 80.4% clip, good for 4th in the Association. It lends credence to how tough they have played this year on the interior.
The Wiz are 9-4 ATS in their last 13 games and 5-1 in their last six games overall. Look for them to continue their impressive defensive metrics as they punish Charlotte on the glass.
UNDER
The Hornets are scoring in boat-loads to start the year, averaging 114.5 points per game on 45% shooting. They are second in the NBA in pace through 15 games. Miles Bridges has seen a career resurgence in his third season. The Michigan State product is averaging 21.3 points and 7.5 boards through 14 games. Although putting up impressive offensive statistics, Charlotte has been lackluster on the defensive side of the ball, ranking 28th in defensive rating through two weeks.
With that being said, oddsmakers have routinely overvalued the totals, especially considering how good Washington has been on D. The total number has gone under in five of Washington’s last six games this year, and 15 of their last 20 games against the Hornets over the last three years. Expect this to be a high-scoring game, just not high enough to go over the inflated number.
