Golden State Warriors (27-19) +9, 215 at New Orleans Hornets (32-12), 8 pm Eastern Wednesday
Two of the more entertaining teams in the NBA hook up when Don Nelson’s Golden State Warriors visit Byron Scott’s New Orleans Hornets Wednesday night in the Big Easy.
NBA betting boards list New Orleans as nine-point home favorites for Wednesday’s game, with a total of 215. Also, the Hornets are posted at around -450 on various Vegas moneylines, with the Warriors getting +350 as road underdogs.
New Orleans is the hottest team in the league right now, having won their last nine games in a row by an average of 21 points per. The Hornets popped Denver Monday night 117-93, shooting 51% from the field and outrebounding the Nuggets 52-33. Heading into Wednesday’s game, New Orleans leads the Southwest Division by a game over the second-place Dallas Mavericks, and owns the best record in the Western Conference.
Golden State lost at Houston Tuesday 111-107, shooting just 42% from the floor. But the Warriors have won seven of their last 10 games, and sit in third place in the Pacific Division, six games back of the first-place Phoenix Suns. GS also occupies ninth place in the Western Conference race, just percentage points behind the eighth-place Nuggets and Portland Trailblazers.
The Warriors are 20-26 against the spread this season, 14-11 straight up and 12-13 vs. the numbers on the road.
Meanwhile, the Hornets are a sparkling 29-14 ATS this season, 16-7 SU and 14-9 vs. the numbers at home.
In the first match-up between these two teams this season three weeks ago, New Orleans won in Oakland 116-104, outrebounding the Warriors 45-35. But Golden State took three of four games from the Hornets last season. Over those last five meetings in this series, the o/u has gone 2-3, and the games, while wildly fluctuating in their scores, have averaged 203 total points.
New Orleans ranks 3rd in the league in point differential at +6.8 per game, while the Warriors rank 14th at +1.7.
Golden State is shooting 45% from the field as a team this season, 35% from 3-point range and 75% from the free-throw line.
The Hornets are shooting 46% from the floor, 38% from long range and 78% from the line.
The Warriors are allowing opponents to shoot 46% from the field, New Orleans 45%. But while the Hornets rank 7th in the league in rebounding at +2 per game, GS ranks 29th at -5.2 per game.
The Sagarin PREDICTOR ratings at USAToday.com ranks New Orleans 3rd at 96.8, the Warriors 14th at 91.1. Sagarin’s current NBA home-court advantage figure is 3.1.
The o/u is 24-21 in Golden State games this season, which are averaging 217 total points, while the totals are 19-25 in Hornets games, which are averaging 192 total points.
