NBA betting free picks: Los Angeles Clippers @ New Orleans

Added on Jan 13, 2010 by Jack Thurman in

Wednesday night brings us a good sized card in pro basketball and we’ll take a bets for sports betting on a Western Conference game between the New Orleans Hornets and LA Clippers. Clippers lost by 2 at Memphis last night though they did cover the spread. The Hornets had a six game SU winning streak come to an end last time out against Philadelphia.

Los Angeles Clippers at New Orleans Hornets
January 13, 5:05 PM Pacific

Clippers have started to show signs of life lately and are now on a 7 game pointspread winning streak with a 5-2 SU record during that span. They’re still not a very good road team, however, with a 5-11 SU mark away from the Staples Center though they are 8-8 against the spread. The problem is that they’re no longer going to be a team that can sneak up on opponents and particularly in the competitive Western Conference. The Clips are now just 3 games out of a playoff spot and just two games behind 10th place New Orleans.

The Hornets are a hard time to figure out, but one thing that is obvious is that they’re a different team at home than on the road. At home, they’re 14-3 SU and are one of only four NBA teams with 3 losses at home. With the others being Denver, Cleveland and the LA Lakers that’s some pretty impressive company. A major problem with the Hornets is that they have a tendency to play down to the level of their opposition, so instead of feasting on the league’s bottom feeders they’re struggled to a 4-12 ATS mark against teams with losing records despite a 10-6 SU mark. The Clippers got a cover against the Southwest Division last night, but they’re only 2-9 ATS YTD and 16-31 over the past three years.

We look for a solid effort from the Hornets here as they know that the Clippers are starting to close ground. With two winnable road games on deck at Detroit and Indiana this is an important stretch for New Orleans to get some victories in the win column. Another potential problem is that the Clippers have a rematch against their Staples Center cohorts the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night. Since the Clippers upset the Lakers in the last meeting, they’ll have to expect a tough matchup there. Chris Kaman is doubtful tonight and Marcus Canby is questionable, so there’s a chance that the Clippers may ‘phone in’ this game to be in better shape to play the Lakers. Hornets have won and covered the last four meetings on their own court, and we like them to do it here as well.

Bet New Orleans -7′ over Los Angeles Clippers