Hornets at Spurs
The Charlotte Hornets were just starting to get things going when leading scorer Kemba Walker went down. The Hornets will start trying to figure out how to get around without their floor leader when they visit the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday. The Spurs are no strangers to injury but have Kawhi Leonard, Tony Parker and Tim Duncan all in the lineup and all playing well at the same time and are winners of six of their last seven.
Charlotte announced Monday that Walker would undergo surgery to repair a torn lateral meniscus Wednesday. The 24-year-old, who is averaging 18.8 points and 5.2 assists, could miss as little as four weeks or as much as six months depending on how much needs to be repaired once the doctors get inside the knee. The Hornets are expected to turn to Brian Roberts as the starting point guard to go up against Parker.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, SportSouth (Charlotte), FSN Southwest (San Antonio)
ABOUT THE HORNETS (19-26): Charlotte has won nine of its last 11 games and managed to survive without Walker in a 76-71 triumph over the New York Knicks on Sunday as Roberts went for 17 points in the starting role. The Hornets still are slowly working Al Jefferson (groin) back into a bigger role and he was on the floor for 30 minutes against the Knicks, though he slumped to nine points on 4-of-14 shooting in the expanded time. “If we continue to defend, rebound as we have, not turn the ball over and improve our pace of play, to me we have more than enough to keep playing well,” Charlotte coach Steve Clifford told reporters.
ABOUT THE SPURS (29-17): Leonard has posted three double-doubles in the last four games and is averaging 16.5 points and 10 boards in six games since returning from a hand injury, with San Antonio taking five wins in that span. “I feel like I can get my conditioning up a little bit, but other than that I feel good,” Leonard told reporters. “I’m still trying to get back into the flow with the games and the schedule, but I feel pretty confident in what I’m doing.” The last game Leonard missed was Jan. 14, when the Spurs picked up a 98-93 win at Charlotte behind 27 points from Manu Ginobili.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Hornets F Marvin Williams (concussion) and C Bismack Biyombo (knee) also are expected to sit out.
2. The Spurs have taken eight straight in the series.
3. San Antonio G Danny Green has been held to single digits in scoring in each of the last four games and is 8-of-33 from the floor in that span.