The Sacramento Kings will visit the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center on Thursday evening.

Sacramento (23-21) comes into Thursday's matchup having won three in a row and four out of five. The Kings have won each of those games in commanding fashion, earning a margin of victory of seven or more in each contest. One of those wins came against the Hornets, as guards De'Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield scored 21 points each. Fox added three steals on the defensive end, where he has been particularly active this season. The second-year guard is averaging an impressive 1.8 steals and 0.5 blocks per game this year.

Charlotte (20-23), meanwhile, has gone cold in recent weeks. The Hornets have gone 2-5 in their last seven, and have struggled to make things work on defense. The Hornets are ceding 111.8 points per game, ranking just 20th in the NBA. Still, Charlotte is enjoying a bright spot in All-Star point guard Kemba Walker. Walker is scoring a career-high 25.2 points per game this season and is hitting 3.3 three-pointers per game. The Hornets will hope to turn things around with a win on Thursday.


The Hornets will be without big man Cody Zeller, who had surgery on his hand in early January.