NBA Odds: New Orleans Hornets vs Houston Rockets Preview & Pick
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New Orleans Hornets vs. Houston Rockets
Date: Friday, January 14, 8:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Toyota Center, Houston, TX
Broadcast: CST, FSH
Hornets vs. Rockets lines from Sportsbook.com
Hornets: OFF
Rockets: OFF
Total: OFF
Check Out Our Indepth NBA ATS Betting Stats For This Game —>
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The New Orleans Hornets have a great chance to build some momentum after an impressive win over Orlando this week. New Orleans visits the Houston Rockets on Friday night.
New Orleans (23-16, 20-16-2 ATS) has won back-to-back games, including Wednesday’s impressive overtime 92-89 win over the surging Magic. The Hornets are enoying a 3-0 run against the spread and are 6-1 ATS in their past seven games (5-2 straight up).
As usual, the Hornets continue to play impressive defense. They suffered a minor lapse during a two-game losing streak to the Lakers and Warriors but, in their past six wins, they’ve held their opponents to fewer than 90 points every time (for an average of 84.5 per game). As long as the “D” brings it, New Orleans has a shot to win. The Magic came into Wednesday’s game with a nine-game winning streak—averaging 107.7 points per game in that span—but the Hornets held Orlando to just 39 percent shooting from the field.
At the other end of the floor, Marcus Thornton came up huge for the Hornets. Starting guard Marco Belinelli went down a minute into the game with a sprained ankle, but Thornton delivered a 22-point, nine-rebound performance. Belinelli’s status for Friday is in question, to Thornton may once against be counted on.
Houston (17-22, 18-18-2 ATS) has just one win in its past seven games. The Rockets los 118-112 at home to the Thunder on Wednesday, failing to cover as three-point underdogs. That dropped the club to a pathetic 1-7-2 ATS in its past 10 games.
Unlike New Orleans, Houston can’t get any stops. The Rockets have allowed at least 100 points in nine consecutive games, and they own one of the league’s worst defenses at nearly 105 points allowed per outing.
Injuries are a major part of the problem, and they continue to mount. Yao Ming is already done for the season and his replacement, Chuck Hayes, has been out since late December. Now, the team must press on without leading scorer Kevin Martin and backup center Brad Miller. Martin (sprained wrist, ankle) is day-to-day, while Miller (knee) will miss a week or two.
New Orleans has been incredibly strong on defense this season. That isn’t likely to change Friday, as the Hornets catch an injury depleted Houston squad. Losing Martin (23.2 points per game) means the Rockets will be hard pressed to score many points, especially with the Hornets harassing them. Take New Orleans.
Trends:
The total has gone OVER in 4 of last 5 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of last 10 games when playing New Orleans
Houston is 9-4 SU in its last 13 games at home
Houston is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against New Orleans
The total has gone UNDER in 12 of last 15 games on the road
New Orleans is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Houston
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of last 10 games when playing Houston
The total has gone UNDER in 17 of last 23 games
New Orleans at Houston pick: Watch for the line and then pound the Hornets
Ian Van Den Hurk has covered amateur and pro sports for years, including a successful run handicapping anything from football to mixed martial arts.
