Hornets vs Suns | Prediction & Pick

New Orleans Hornets vs Phoenix Suns -NBA Free Pick – Friday March  25, 2011

vs.

New Orleans Hornets at Phoenix Suns
Friday, March 25, 2011 at 10:00 pm EST on NBA TV

Pointspread: Phoenix -6
Over/Under: 198

The New Orleans Hornets continue their three-game West Coast swing with a trip to the US Airways Center this Friday night for matchup against the Phoenix Suns. Game time is set for 10 p.m. (ET) and it will be broadcast nationally on NBA TV.

New Orleans continues to battle for playoff position in the Western Conference as it is currently in seventh-place in the standings sandwiched above Memphis by half a game and behind Portland by a game heading into their matchup against Utah on Thursday. A loss to the Jazz would make this game even more critical as the regular season continues to wind down.

The Hornets are just 5-5 straight-up in their last 10 games and 40-31 SU overall (35-34-2 against the spread). They beat Phoenix last Wednesday night 100-95 as a five-point home favorite, but lost to Boston 89-85 as a one-point home favorite last Friday.

David West leads a group of five players scoring in double-figures with an average of 18.7 points a game. Chris Paul is the second leading scorer with 16.2 points and leads the team in assists with 9.8 a game. Emeka Okafor is New Orleans’ leading rebounder, pulling down 9.7 boards a game.

The Hornets are only averaging 94.7 points a game which is ranked 27th in the NBA, but are giving up an average of just 93 points which is fourth-best in the league. They are shooting 45.8 percent from the field and 35.5 percent from three-point range.

Phoenix is running out of games to try and make it into this year’s postseason. This perennial playoff team is currently three games in back of the Grizzlies for the eighth and final spot in the West with just 12 games left to play in the regular season. It has an overall record of 36-34 SU (33-34-3 ATS)
The Suns have not helped their cause with six losses in their last 10 games, but they have won three of their last four including a 114-106 win over Toronto on Wednesday night as a 7 ½-point home favorite after a wild 139-137 triple-overtime loss to the LA Lakers as a seven-point road underdog.

Grant Hill is battling the flu and Steve Nash has a sore groin but both are expected to ready to go on Friday. Mickael Pietrus remains questionable after spraining his knee against the Raptors. Nash leads the team with 15.8 points and a NBA-high 11.5 assists per game. Vince Carter is averaging 14.3 points a game and Marcin Gortat leads in rebounds with 8.9.

Phoenix is ranked fourth in the league in scoring with an average of 105.4 points a game. Defensively, only Golden State and Minnesota give up more points per game than the Suns, which is the root cause of most of their problems this season. They have also struggled under the boards with an average of just 40.3 rebounds a game, ranking them in the bottom third of the league.

New Orleans is 3-2 ATS in its last five road games but just 2-5-1 ATS in its last eight games overall. The total has stayed ‘under’ in five of its last seven games.
Phoenix is 2-3 ATS in its last five games at home but 5-0-1 ATS in its last six games overall. The total stayed ‘under’ in six of its last eight games.

Head-to-head, the Suns have won five of the last seven games SU and is 5-1-1 ATS. The total has stayed ‘under’ in four of these games. Phoenix won the first game this season between these two 104-102 on Jan.30 as a 1 ½-point home favorite before dropping the game to the Hornets week.

The odds makers have the Phoenix Suns as a -6 point favorite with an over/under of 198.

Check out the latest NBA Basketball Odds here.

Stick with New Orleans and the six points in a close, hard-fought battle that is much like the first two games between these teams this season.

Need more help making your picks winners? Check out our top  handicappers.

Bet on the Hornets/Suns game: “Where the NBA Lines Originate” and  get a generous 50% sign up bonus (up to $500) at Bookmaker.com.