NBA Basketball
2012-03-22 - LA Clippers at New Orleans Hornets
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States: NBA Basketball
Thursday 22 March 2012 - Tip Off 8pm ET
Midnight (British Standard Time)
Preview
The LA Clippers (26-20) have not had things going their own way recently and that has seen them drop the lead in the Pacific Division to local rivals the LA Lakers, although they do still look on course for a Play Off berth. However, all is not well here as rumours persist that Vinny Del Negro is on the hot seat. A trip to the New Orleans Hornets (11-35) may provide a welcome relief for the team as Chris Paul faces his former team for the first time.
The Clippers were blown out by the Oklahoma City Thunder last night and are now in action for the third night in a row as they were defeated at Indiana the on Tuesday. They have not been playing to the standard they had set at the start of the season and have now lost 7 of their last 11 games.
Both Blake Griffin and Chris Paul are struggling in recent games, although I do expect the latter to pick up the slack in front of his former fans. Paul made it clear when he joined the LA Clippers that he wanted to know whenever his new team was playing against a team that they have had a long losing record against- the Hornets have beaten the Clippers in 15 of the last 16 games in the series, including 8 in a row in New Orleans.
The fact that Chris Paul is coming back to New Orleans is the obvious headline for a Hornets team that has struggled all season since trading their star player away. They have lost their last 5 home games, including last night against the Golden State Warriors, although they could have been looking ahead to this game.
That was seemingly backed up by Monty Williams who was upset that his team did not compete to their usual levels in the loss to the Warriors.
Head to Head
As I said above, New Orleans have won 15 of the last 16 games against the LA Clippers straight up, but they hold the same mark against the spread.
The Hornets have won the last 8 games at home against the Clippers, both straight up and against the spread.
New Orleans are 6-18 against the spread at home this season, LA are 11-11-1 on the road.
New Orleans are 21-17 against the spread as the underdog, LA are 14-15-1 as the favourite.
Other Interesting Trends
New Orleans are 2-5 against the spread in their last 7 games as the home underdog.
However, they are 7-3 against the spread in their last 10 games against teams with a winning record.
LA are 6-2 against the spread in their last 8 games against teams that have won less than 40% of their games this season.
However, they are just 1-7 against the spread in their last 8 games as the favourite.
Prediction
I am going to back the LA Clippers to record a win here and cover the spread for the following reasons:
First, Chris Paul has made it clear he wants to reverse the losing trends the Clippers have had and he should be extra motivated here against his former team.
Second, New Orleans have really struggled at home all season and just came off a tough loss where energy levels were not up to par.
Third, the Hornets are just 2-5 against the spread when they have lost a game that they were set as the favourites.
The Pick :
New Orleans Hornets 88-96 LA Clippers
