Washington Wizards @ Charlotte Hornets - March 1, 2025

As the Washington Wizards and Charlotte Hornets prepare to clash at Spectrum Center, we find ourselves in an intriguing matchup between two teams struggling for consistency. The oddsmakers have set the Hornets as -3-point favorites, which reflects their home-court advantage but also indicates a competitive game given both teams’ recent performances.

The Hornets come into this game with a record of 14-44 SU and are on a five-game losing streak. While they’ve struggled overall, they have managed to cover the spread in four of their last five home games. Their offensive stats show that they’re averaging about 105.4 points per game on a shooting percentage of 42.5%. However, their three-point shooting is subpar at 33.9%, and they’re only converting 77.6% from the free-throw line.

On the defensive side, Charlotte has been somewhat porous, allowing opponents to grab around 45.4 rebounds while committing nearly 19 fouls per game—both indicators of a team that struggles to control the pace and flow of games effectively.

Conversely, the Wizards are sitting at a dismal record of 10-48 SU but have shown some signs of life recently by going 8-3 ATS in their last eleven contests. They average slightly more points than Charlotte at approximately 108.3 per game with a better field goal percentage (44.1%) and assists (25.1). This suggests that when they can find rhythm offensively, they can be competitive even if it hasn’t translated into wins consistently.

Defensively, however, Washington faces challenges similar to those of Charlotte; they allow over 43 rebounds per game while committing more fouls (20.6) than they’d like—a recipe for extended opponent possessions and foul trouble for key players.

Given these statistics and trends leading up to this matchup, I predict that while Charlotte may emerge victorious due to their home advantage and slight edge in covering spreads lately, Washington will likely keep it close enough to cover the spread as well—especially considering they’ve been showing improvement against it recently.

As for total points scored in this matchup? The expectation leans toward an UNDER outcome based on both teams’ recent scoring trends combined with their defensive lapses leading to lower-scoring affairs than one might anticipate from two struggling offenses.

In summary: I see Charlotte edging out Washington tonight but expect the Wizards to cover that -3 spread comfortably while we watch for another low-scoring affair that keeps us under that total line set at 223.5 points.