Free NBA Picks and Odds: New Orleans Hornets at New York Knicks on NBA TV Expert Predictions – NBA Betting Preview 3/2/11: Point guard Chris Paul will lead the New Orleans Hornets on the road to Madison Square Garden to take on Carmelo Anthony’s New York Knickerbockers on Wednesday evening at 7:30 PM ET on NBA TV. The Hornets enter the game coming off of a loss and have dropped 7 of their last 10 and now sit at 35-26 overall – good for 3rd in the Southwest. The Knicks lost a tough road contest at the Magic last night giving up 37 points in the 4th quarter and come in at 30-28 – 2nd in the Atlantic – and 2-2 since Anthony joined the team.
“I don’t like to make excuses, but not being together on the defensive end, not practicing, not getting the repetitions … I think it gets confusing out there at times. That will come with time,” Anthony said after making 8 of 24 shots for 25 points Tuesday to a better defensive team. “We’ll have to tighten up a lot of things,” D’Antoni said, also referring to the Knicks’ shooting 38.0 percent – 25.0 from 3-point range – over the last two games. “We’ll have to get a little bit better without a doubt.” The odds makers at Bodog have the New York Knicks a -2 1/2 point favorite at home against the New Orleans Hornets.
The Knicks lost on Tuesday night 116-110 on the road to the Orlando Magic to move to 35-21-2 ATS for the season. Center Amare Stoudemire scored 30 points but only pulled down 2 rebounds and had 1 assist going up against Dwight Howard. Point Guard Chauncey Billups (coming in the trade with Denver with Anthony) poured in 30 points as well as grabbing 6 boards and 6 assist while Carmelo added 25 points as the only other player on the Knicks in double figures. Vegas odds makers have the New York Knicks +3000 to win the 2010-2011 NBA Championship.
The Hornets are also playing on back to back nights off a loss 96-90 on the road to the Toronto Raptors moving them to 29-31-2 ATS for the season. Power forward David West led the way with 19 points pulling down 10 boards and dishing 4 assists while Paul only scored 7 points and pulled down 4 rebounds and had 5 assists. The total has gone UNDER in 6 of New Orleans’s last 8 games when playing on the road against New York. Paul “CP3” is one of the star players that would have liked to be traded and his disappointment could well be a reason for his recent poor play. Vegas odds makers have the over/under for the total score at 201 1/2 points combined of the New York Knicks and New Orleans Hornets.
MATCHUP: New Orleans (35-27) at New York (30-28)
GAME TIME: 7:35 PM EST
TELEVISION: NBA TV
Recent Hornets and Knicks NBA Betting Odds Trends:
New Orleans: NO are 3-12 ATS in their last 15 games overall.
NO are 2-7 ATS in their last 9 road games.
NO are 4-13 ATS in their last 17 vs. NBA Atlantic.
New York: Over is 7-1 in NY last 8 games as a home favorite.
Over is 8-2 in NY last 10 games as a favorite.
Head to Head: Under is 8-2 in the last 10 meetings in New York.
Road team is 10-4 ATS in the last 14 meetings.
Opening Vegas Betting Morning Lines from Las Vegas
Favorite: Knicks -2.5
Total: O/U 201.5
* These are the Morning Lines at Las Vegas Hilton in Las Vegas
Rich Fritz’s Hornets and Knicks Free NBA Picks 3/2:
Play Knicks -2.5
Bet it at BoDog Sportsbook
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