Nick Smith Jr. shares insight into Hornets mentality ahead of matchup against Golden State

The Hornets look to break a six-game losing streak when the host Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors on Monday at Spectrum Center.

Mar 1, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Charlotte Hornets guard Nick Smith Jr. (8) shoots against the Washington Wizards during the first quarter at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Kinser-Imagn Images | Scott Kinser-Imagn Images

The Charlotte Hornets are set to face the Golden State Warriors for the second time in less than a week when the two teams take the court on Monday, March 3, 2025 at the Spectrum Center. Most recently the Hornets saw the Warriors when they made a stop in San Francisco on the team's previous road trip, where they fell to Steph Curry and the Warriors, 128-92.

Despite the loss, the team hopes their recent experience facing Golden State will yield a different result in their second matchup. "We got a little bit more confidence because we know what they can do," Hornets guard Nick Smith Jr. said following the team's pregame shoot around. "They shoot a lot of threes and shoot a lot of layups, so we just got to contain them and do the best we can."

In the team's previous matchup the Hornets gave up 25 turnovers, which resulted in 37 points for the Warriors. Smith says a key for success this time around will be to limited those turnovers, as well as find a rhythm offensively from the start of the game. "I’d say our turnovers and I believe the first and second quarter we didn't score a lot of points, so we just got to continue to play together and play defense," Smith says.

Smith says he feels the focus of the team as they finish out the final six week of the season will be consistency. "Just consistently playing hard each and every night, just keeping the same mentality every night. I feel like some games we come out not ready to play. Sometimes we come out a half not ready to play," Smith Says. "We just got to stick to the game plan and continue to play hard."

The Hornets are looking to break a 6-game losing streak with the team's most recent loss coming against the Wizards at Spectrum Center over the weekend. "I feel like that that game just kind of just got out of hand. I feel like we could've done a better job getting better shots," Smith says. "We watched film so we just got to do a better job with just knowing what we we need in the game and knowing what shots we need to take and what shots we don't need to take.

Tipoff for Monday's game against the Warriors is set for 7 o'clock ET.

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