New Orleans Hornets at Oklahoma City Thunder
Monday, 11/29/10, 8:00 PM EDT
New Orleans has dropped three of four games since opening 11-1 for the first time in franchise history and surrendered a season-high 109 points to San Antonio in defeat on Sunday. “We’ve got to execute better on defense and push the tempo. That’s my fault,” said point guard Chris Paul. “I pushed it in the first half and I guess I didn’t in the second half and they were able to get their defense set.” It was a frustrating night for the club, building a 61-44 halftime lead, only to see it end up a 109-95 loss. The Spurs outscored the Hornets, 28-16, in the third quarter and 37-18 in the fourth. The Hornets are 5-3 on the road this season and 7-1 at home. New Orleans is 9-6 ATS this year and listed as a slight underdog on the NBA lines page.
The Hornets came into the Spurs game ranking first in the NBA for fewest points allowed, giving up just 91.1 points a contest, after surrendering 102.7 last season. New Orleans will be thrilled to have Paul back in the lineup against tonight’s opponent, as the franchise won 10 consecutive games against the Thunder before he missed two meetings that ended up as losses last year. In order to get back on track, the team must start hitting the glass, getting out-rebounded in consecutive games by a combined margin of 90-61. This has caused the Hornets to shoot 20 shots less than their opponents over that span.
Oklahoma City has dropped two of three games that includes a 99-98 loss at Houston on Sunday night. Going into Sunday’s visit to Houston, the Thunder’s road winning streak had reached five. The franchise hadn’t won six straight away games since 2004-05 when it was still in Seattle. “We battled back and no one on our team gave up and we had a shot to win,” said coach Scott Brooks. “Kevin’s shot was on the line but just a little short. We had a chance to win down the stretch.” Durant was held to 18 points on the night and the club allowed the Rockets to make 10 of 17 three-pointers. Oklahoma City is 3-0 ATS when playing on back-to-back days.
The Thunder now return home with an 11-6 overall record and 5-4 mark at home. Oklahoma City dropped its first game of the season in games decided by seven or fewer points, coming into last night’s game with a perfect 8-0 mark. “Sixteen offensive rebounds was hard to overcome and that was tough,” said Brooks. “It is not normal for us to miss that many free throws.” The team is scheduled to play 16 back-to-backs over the course of the season and has a current record of 1-2 on the first night and 3-0 on the second night.
Bettors will be interested in knowing that the Hornets are 1-6-1 ATS in their last eight games overall, while the Thunder are 2-6 ATS in their last eight home games.
The NBA handicappers at Maddux Sports are off to a flying start and ready to deliver on the hardcourt tonight!
