New Orleans Hornets at Dallas Mavericks, American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
Wednesday, April 13, 2011, 8:00 pm Eastern, TV: ESPN
Opening Line: Mavs -9
Current Line: Mavs -11
Opening Total: 189.5
Current Total: 186.5
Money Line: Mavs -700 / Hornets +500

The New Orleans Hornets (46-35) visit the Dallas Mavericks (56-25) on Wednesday with both teams still fighting for playoff positioning.  The Mavericks (-11) could still earn the second seed in the West with a win and a loss by the Los Angeles Lakers at Sacramento while the Hornets need a victory and a loss by Memphis against the Clippers to avoid the eighth and final spot.

Even though the teams will not play each other in the first round of the postseason, this will serve as a playoff game of sorts since it will be one of the few games on the slate with anything on the line.  New Orleans has dropped its last two games both straight-up and against the spread and seemed to be headed for the sixth seed until leading scorer and rebounder David West got hurt.  West recently underwent successful surgery on his left knee.  The Hornets are 5-4 without him.

Meanwhile, Dallas has won three in a row both SU and ATS since a four-game losing streak that almost killed the team’s chances of getting the #2 seed.  The Lakers had helped them out by losing five straight before beating San Antonio 102-93 on Tuesday, but they still own the tiebreaker since they won the regular-season series.

With West on the floor for New Orleans, these teams were fairly even in their three meetings this year.  All three were decided by three points or less with the Hornets winning the last two by a combined three points.  Jarrett Jack led them to a 93-92 victory in the latest meeting on March 9, scoring 21 points and dishing out seven assists while filling in for the injured Chris Paul.  Dirk Nowitzki averaged nearly 27 points in the three games for the Mavs and has totaled 20 or more in three of four overall.

The OVER has cashed in four of the last five meetings along with six of eight, although neither team has reached the century mark in the past three.  New Orleans has failed to reach 90 points in the last two games after scoring more than 100 in the previous three.  Dallas has held its last three opponents to an average of 92 points with the UNDER cashing twice.

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