NBA Schedule: Charlotte Hornets Trying To Stop Fired Up San Antonio Spurs

It is hard enough going up against the San Antonio Spurs. It is might be impossible to beat them when they are fired up. Head coach Gregg Popovich ripped into the team after a victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday because he felt that the performance was sub par. On Wednesday, the Charlotte Hornets will attempt to stop the Spurs, as reported by ESPN.

ICYMI: We won our sixth straight last night, improving to 11-3 on the season. #GoSpursGo https://t.co/M007oN7syf

— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) November 22, 2016

One of the reasons why the San Antonio Spurs did not have a dominant effort against the Dallas Mavericks, who have been struggling much worse than expected this season, is the fact that Gregg Popovich opted to rest Tony Parker and LaMarcus Aldridge during the game. When a team is playing without their starting point guard and power forward, a lot of adjustments are needed.

For the season, the San Antonio Spurs are sitting on an 11-3 record. Those three losses all came at home, as the team has been perfect on the road. The Spurs have won all seven games away from San Antonio. The Charlotte Hornets are playing at home, but they do not feel as comfortable as NBA teams normally do when they are in their own arena.

The Charlotte Hornets might find themselves a bit more motivated than normal. Against the Memphis Grizzlies, they were down by 22 points at halftime. Steve Clifford is one of the more underrated head coaches in the NBA, so he will attempt to use that game as motivation for his players. He is more than likely going to sell the idea that they can regain a lot of momentum by beating a great team like the San Antonio Spurs.

Though Tony Parker is no longer considered an elite point guard in the NBA, he is still a pretty solid veteran. Kemba Walker should view this as a good challenge for himself. The former Connecticut star has been one of the better scorers in basketball this season. Walker is going to need to put up a good amount of points on Parker, who is not a dominant defender by any means.

Nicolas Batum is one of the most versatile players in the NBA. The veteran shooting guard might need to step up his scoring against the San Antonio Spurs. That might be a bit hard to do because Danny Green is a pretty solid defender. Batum will also need to be alert on defense because he will be going up against Green and Manu Ginobili off the bench.

Injuries will keep two key players off of the court for the Charlotte Hornets. Jeremy Lamb has been struggling with a hamstring injury that has kept him out of all but three games thus far this season. Cody Zeller is a valuable member of the frontcourt for the Hornets. A shoulder injury will force Steve Clifford to dig deeper into his bench to find someone that can fill a rotation spot.

Though they are sitting in first place in the Southwest Division, the San Antonio Spurs know that they cannot relax anytime soon. The Memphis Grizzlies, Houston Rockets, and New Orleans Pelicans have been doing pretty well lately. They all have been creeping up the standings.

As for the Charlotte Hornets, they really want to end their two-game losing streak before it develops into something much worse. The team has a pretty good chance of obtaining the top spot in the Southeast Division, especially since the Atlanta Hawks have been struggling as of late. A victory over the San Antonio Spurs will enable the Hornets to tie the Hawks.

Of course, beating a motivated San Antonio Spurs team is much easier said than done.

[Featured Image by Sean M Haffey/Getty Images]