ORLANDO, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 03: Dylan Harper #2 of the San Antonio Spurs drives to the basket past Anthony Black #0 of the Orlando Magic during the first quarter at Kia Center on December 03, 2025 in Orlando, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading an d/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images) | Getty Images Welcome to the Game Thread. Veterans of the Game Thread know how we do things around here, but for all you newbies we have a few rules. Our community guidelines apply and basically say be cool, no personal attacks, don’t troll and don’t swear too much. After a weather-related travel nightmare in Charlotte, the Spurs return home tonight to face the Orlando Magic. They’re coming off of a loss to a supernova hot Hornets team where a low energy effort cost the visitors as the Hornets won their sixth game in a row, delighting the Saturday brunch-time home crowd. The Spurs had a chance near the end to tie the game to tie things up, but Wembanyama missed the shot. Even though he had been cold all game long, it was the same kind of shot he has made several times in the past, and it just didn’t work out this time. The bigger problem was the lack of rebounding that gave the Hornets too many second and third chance points for the Spurs to overcome in a game where their best player had an off night. January was a rough month for the Spurs, as it was for most of the contenders in the Western Conference. They finished 8-7 for the month, which was still good enough to keep them in the top three in the conference, which would guarantee them at least one home playoff series if they can keep it up to the end of the season. They have six more games before the All Star break, and all of them except tonight’s game against the Magic are against Western Conference foes, which means that this stretch of games will be a key indicator if the Spurs are a real contender this year, or a rebuilding team that’s learning how to get back into the playoffs after a long absence. It could be both, but the Spurs are definitely evolving as we speak. With the trade deadline coming up, perhaps the Spurs will do something to help shore up the rebounding and add size in the paint, but it could be that the Silver and Black will stand pat for the rest of the season. Tonight the Spurs face the Magic who are coming off of a pair of solid wins over Eastern Conference contenders, 133-124 over the Heat, and 130-120 over the Raptors on Friday. They will have a hell of a rest advantage over the home team, who were stuck in Charlotte last night and had to travel back to the Alamo City sometime this morning. If there were ever a time for Boris Diaw’s expresso machine in the locker room, today would be the day. The Spurs previously beat the Magic 114-112 on December 3 without Victor Wembanyama on the court behind a 31 point scoring effort from De’Aaron Fox. Let’s hope the Spurs can overcome the fatigue and start February off on the right foot tonight. After the Magic Spurs will face Thunder on Wednesday night to wrap up the season series, but they don’t want to look past tonight’s game. Let’s GOOO Spurs! Game Prediction: Mitch Johnson coaches the game wearing pajamas because he didn’t have time to go home and get a change of clothes after the travel fiasco caused by the snowstorm delaying the Spurs exit from Charlotte. San Antonio Spurs at Charlotte HornetsFebruary 1, 2026 | 8:00 PM CT (rescheduled again due to travel issues)Streaming: NBA League PassTV: FanDuel Sports SouthwestReminder: It is against site policy to post links to illegal streams in the comments. ...read more read less