NBA Basketball
2010-11-17 - Dallas Mavericks at New Orleans
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States: NBA Basketball
Wednesday 17 November 2010 - Tip-Off 8pm ET
1am (British Standard Time)
Preview
New Orleans (8-1) lost their first game of the new season on Monday night, but they will not have long to wait if they want revenge for that as they protect their unbeaten home record against their rivals, the Dallas Mavericks (7-2).
The Hornets will be disappointed to have thrown away a 10 point lead with under 8 minutes to play on Monday against Dallas and they became the last team in the NBA to lose their 0 this season.
Chris Paul has made an excellent start to the new season, one where the Hornets were not expecting to be the a major player in the Western Conference as rumours swirled that Paul would be leaving to perhaps start a new 'Big Three' in New York with Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony.
Paul was brilliant in the first half against the Mavericks on Monday night, before Dallas found their Defense and limited him to just 2 points in the last 2 Quarters.
Dallas made a 21-8 run in the final minutes of the game on Monday to pull the 3 point victory out of the bag and their 4th consecutive victory.
Jason Terry, the winner of 6th man of the year 2 seasons ago, particularly enjoys playing the Hornets. Terry had 26 points on Monday to improve his average to 20 points per game in 13 meetings with New Orleans, his 2nd highest average against any team over the last 4 years.
Dallas have won all of their 3 road games this season, each by an average of 10.6 points per game. The Mavericks will be hoping that Caron Butler will be available again for the team after he missed 3 straight games with a back injury.
Head to Head
Dallas may have beaten New Orleans at home on Monday, but they have not travelled well when playing here at the New Orleans Arena. The Mavericks have now lost 6 in a row in the series here against the Hornets.
The Hornets have been shooting at 50% from the field against Dallas in those 6 wins, averaging 108 points per game, and winning 4 of the games by double digits.
New Orleans have won their last 4 at home against Dallas against the spread.
Dallas are 8-2-1 against the spread in their last 11 road games. However, they come against New Orleans who are 10-0-1 against the spread in their last 11 at home.
Prediction
Dallas made all the correct adjustments in their win over New Orleans on Monday as they reduced a big deficit to take a close win. However, it is a tough ask to do the same when playing in this Arena where the Mavericks have not had the best recent history.
Chris Paul is also an intelligent basketball player and we can expect him to sit down and make the necessary adjustments if he sees the similar zone Defense that limited him heavily in the second half on Monday.
This game is surely going to follow a similar pattern to the one on Monday in that it will be close and keenly contested between these Divisional rivals. However, I think the Hornets may just get their revenge here and I will pick them minus the points.
The Pick :
New Orleans Hornets 95-89 Dallas Mavericks
