Spurs vs. Hornets Odds & Betting Predictions - January 20, 2024

The Spurs will be without Victor Wembanyama today and one player that I expect to be negatively impacted is Tre Jones. On the season as a whole, Tre Jones is averaging 5.4 assists per game and 1.1 per game are to Wemby. Since Tre joined the starting lineup this has skyrocketed. In the last 7 games he is averaging 7.0 assists per game with 2.3 going to Wemby, per NBA Advanced Stats. Jones has excellent rapport with Wembanyama and he has been shooting 51.4% on field goal attempts off of Tre Jones Passes. Without Wemby, some of these easier assists simply may not exist. Here, this is a soft matchup against the Charlotte Hornets but the Hornets have actually played at a slow Pace this season, just 20th in the league. Even though the Hornets’ defense has struggled, it would be a relative Pace Down spot for the Hornets. Over these last 7 games as a starter, Jones is averaging 7 assists on 13.3 potentials. However, on the season without Wembanyama he is averaging just 4.2 assists in 24.8 minutes per game. In the one game he started without Wembanyama he played 32.4 minutes against the Bulls with only 4 assists on 12 potentials. He should see a bit more success here given the matchup; however, this line is a touch inflated due to his back-to-back double digit assist performances against the Atlanta Hawks and the Boston Celtics. I like Tre Jones to go under 7.5 Assists.