Hornets vs Kings Recap: NBA Dec. 19/22

The Sacramento Kings, the 10th-ranked team in our most recent NBA power rankings, hosted the Charlotte Hornets on Monday. The Hornets, who have rarely posted victories on the road this season, won the game in a contest that was fairly close at the final buzzer. They, the Hornets, put up a single-digit spread in the game, winning by 6 points. The final score was Charlotte 125, and Sacramento 119.

Hornets @ Kings Monday: De’Aaron Fox scores 37

With the loss, the Kings are now 16-13 on the season. They have to be disappointed with the result given that they were up against one of the least-proven teams in the association. Furthermore, the Kings lost Harrison Barnes during the game, with injury updates pending for one of their starting forwards.

The top scorer in the game was point guard De’Aaron Fox of the Sacramento Kings. He had 37 points in the game on 14 of 25 shooting from the field. It was the third straight game where Fox was the leading scorer for the Kings.

Sacramento Kings(updated): Ranked Team at a Glance

• Overall record: 16-13
• Home record: 8-5
• Away record: 8-8
• Winning/losing streak: L1
• Last ten games: 6-4
• After losing to the Charlotte Hornets, Sacramento is more likely to fall out of our top ten next week than they are to stay inside of it

Gordon Hayward could be a big help to Charlotte

Meanwhile, the Hornets improved to 8-23 with the 6-point victory. Furthermore, they improved to just 4-12 as a road team and there is a major takeaway to be had with the team’s recent results.

The Hornets’ Gordon Hayward led the game in point differential at +18. Hayward appears to be an underrated part of this team. In Charlotte’s other recent road game, the Hornets lost to the Denver Nuggets by a small spread. Hayward was +7 in that game while all other starters for Charlotte were in the negatives.

If the Hornets achieve a new normal with Hayward back from injury, then there might be some good spreads to be had. Charlotte is perceived as one of the worst teams in the league at this point and that could lead to some good handicaps for NBA bettors.

• Further reading: NBA Power Rankings