Spread & Over/Under Predictions for Hornets vs. Rockets
Each game day, we at All Hornets will release an article on our thoughts on the spread and the over/under of Charlotte Hornets games. The star ratings next to the play describe the overall confidence in that particular play.
Star ratings:
1 Star - Not very confident
2 Star - A little confident
3 Star - Fairly confident
4 Star - Very confident
5 Star - Should be a lock to happen
Spread: Rockets -5.5
3 Star play on the Rockets (-5.5): This is a winnable matchup for Charlotte against a Houston team led by a couple veteran free agents in Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks added to a core of young players with tantalizing upside like Alperen Sengun, Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr., Amen Thompson, and Cam Whitmore. Houston has lost five of their last six games, and joins the Hornets in the bottom third of the league in offensive rating.
Beyond the Hornets roster still feeling emotions of a Terry Rozier trade earlier in the week, the Hornets simply do not have an answer for Houston's surprisingly stout defense. The Rockets are ninth in the league with a 113.0 defensive rating, while Charlotte ranks dead last at 120.6.
Houston remains vulnerable because their offense becomes a big stagnant at times, particularly when it comes to ball movement, but they should have enough fire power to cover this spread.
Over/Under: 223.5
1 Star play on the over: I will preface by saying that this is a line I would generally stay away from. Lots of young players, two teams with wildly different outcomes on a night-to-night basis, chemistry questions when taking into account injuries and trade ramifications.
If we were to zero in on a side though, the under does seem fine. Houston has had a trend recently of playing to the pace and level of their opponents, as young teams often do. Charlotte is the type of opponent that doesn't really set the pace one way or the other, but does not provide much resistance along the way. Houston's solid defensive backbone could easily provide enough resistance to keep this game in a winnable range without the scores getting much higher than 100 a side.
My picks this season
ATS: 5-3 (62.5%)
O/U: 3-5 (37.5%)
Overall: 8-8 (50%)
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