New York Knicks AT New Orleans Hornets
Friday, 3 December, 8:05 EST
Current Betting Line:  New Orleans -6.5
Current total: 203
Current Moneyline: Undefined.

New York enters the game 10-9.  They have been somewhat better than expected, but still have a long ways to go if they are going to be mentioned in the same breath as Atlanta, Chicago, Boston, and Orlando.  They are riding a two game winning streak, with wins against Detroit and New Jersey.  They also have won 7 of their last 10 games, and are actually a better road team than home.  Away from Madison Square Garden New York is 7-4.

New Orleans has been a surprise, too, but in a big way.  No one expected them to be among the elite teams in the Western Conference and they have a 13-5 record.  They have cooled off since winning eight of their first nine games however, and are 5-5 over their last 10 games.

New York is giving up 106.8 ppg and averaging just a tad more with 107.0.  New Orleans is giving up 91.3 while scoring 95.7, so you can see the two teams play at vasty different paces; New York speedy and New Orleans slow down & grind it out.

The total has gone OVER in 7 of 9 of New York’s past 9 games, and it has gone OVER in 5 of their last 6 on the road.  It has also went OVER 10 of the last 12 games in New Orleans.  New Orleans is 0-5 ATS in their last 5 against New York.  The total has gone OVER in 10 of their last 12 in New York.

Key Matchups for the game:

David West vs. Amar’e Stoudemire

West and Stoudemire are both talented bigs whose best attribute is just scoring points, as neither are particularly good defenders or rebounders considering their size and strength.  Amare has improved his shot blocking but is still a poor one-on-one defender.  West is only averaging an anemic 6.6 rebounds per contest and Amar’e is at 8.6.  Despite people predicting that Amar’e scoring average would drastically decrease without Nash feeding him the ball, he is averaging slightly MORE than last year, coming in averaging 24.1 per game.   West is averaging 18.8 points per game.  Last game against New York on December 11, 2009, West went for 20 points and 7 boards.  Amar’e had a monster game last time against New Orleans (though he was playing for the Suns then).  That night, March 14th 2010, Amare erupted for 36 points and 12 boards.

Chris Paul vs. Raymond Felton

Chris Paul’s scoring is down a lot this year and Felton is actually averaging more points per game than Paul, who ordinarily averages 20+ ppg.  Paul is averaging 16.1 ppg and Felton is at 18.2.  Paul holds the edge in assists, though, with 10.5 per game compared to Felton’s 8.1 per game.  Felton could have trouble against Paul, who is one of the best point guard defenders in the league.  Felton’s lack of speed may result in Chris Paul applying a lot of tight pressure to force the ball out of Felton’s hands.  In his last game against Chris Paul (while a member of the Charlotte Bobcats), Felton scored 12 and dished out 7 assists, in a one point Bobcats win.  Chris Paul did not play in that game, and his replacement, Darren Collison abused Felton, going for 24 points and 9 assists.

This game should bring an interesting combination of two teams that play very different styles.  New York will try to get out and run and play a lot in transition, while New Orleans will look to slow it down and run a lot of half court sets.