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Hornets +9 buzz their way to a cover in San Antonio on ESPN
Hornets +9 buzz their way to a cover in San Antonio on ESPN
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
By: "Reload" Joe Freda | reload.mysbrforum.com
Opening night in the NBA saw all four underdogs cash and this looks to continue on Wednesday with an even bigger card of matchups, including the Hornets at the Spurs.
The New Orleans Hornets hope to open the season stronger than how it ended for them last year as they meet the San Antonio Spurs as big road dogs. Look for them to get the cover along with several other underdogs on Wednesday night in the NBA.
The Spurs went through some offseason roster moves that have loaded their lineup heading into starting out the season tonight. Richard Jefferson and Antonio McDyess will be a part of the Spurs frontcourt this year and hooking them up with center Tim Duncan and guard Tony Parker should make them a dangerous contender down the stretch. Guard Roger Mason rounds out the starting five and can knock down a clutch shot when needed, and Manu Ginobili has always been one of the league’s biggest threats off of the bench who begins the season healthy unlike last year.
Despite the Spurs losing two of their three preseason games at home, they are rightfully a big favorite tonight at the AT&T Center as the Hornets come into town. But as we found out in last night’s opening evening of NBA action to start the regular season, even the biggest of chalk may not be strong enough when it comes to cashing a ticket. The Cleveland Cavaliers were one of the league’s best home teams ever last season but getting use to a new lineup with Shaquille O’Neal still trying to memorize the playbook caused them to be upset by the visiting Boston Celtics. In Dallas, the Mavericks lost in embarrassing fashion to the Washington Wizards with the remaining Western Conference home chalk Portland Trail-Blazers and LA Lakers failing to collect at the betting windows, as well.
The Spurs have had some seasons where they can get off to a slow start despite a lineup that looks ready to go, and it could be a close buzzer beating effort to get a win tonight. Preseason action in the NBA is not really enough for most teams to find out what they have and they will be facing a Hornets team tonight who will come in like they have nothing to lose trying to make up for getting destroyed by theDenver Nuggets in the playoffs back in April.
Chris Paul will lead the Hornets lineup this season and is expected to play tonight after missing the last two games of the preseason. Paul is one of the most dangerous weapons in the league and increased his points per game average for the fourth consecutive year last season. He also has historically brought some of his best games to the court against the Spurs and last season scored over 20 points in all but one game against them – but had a double double with 12 assists in the one where he only scored 19. Paul has a style that no team really wants to face in their season opener when they are just getting use to playing again and I look for a big night to happen here in helping to keep the Hornets close in this matchup tonight.
The biggest challenge for the Hornets tonight will be matching up against Duncan up the middle. New Orleans picked up Emeka Okafor over the summer but he had to miss the entire preseason and is questionable for tonight. If he cannot start, Hilton Armstrong will have to take his place and will have to hope that Duncan gets into early foul trouble to have any chance of being effective.
New Orleans has some weapons to help make up for some potential weakness at center such as veteran Peja Stojakovic who can still knock down the three pointers and free throws in the clutch. Although not listed in the starting lineup, we should see some decent minutes tonight from Stojakovic as the team tries to find what will work on the court to get the season off to a winning start.
David West of the Hornets also looks to be back in good shape after a recent ankle injury and like Paul has had some stellar games against the Spurs in the past. Last season, the Hornets opened on the road and won against Golden State with West leading them in scoring with 24 points. Although they will certainly face tougher defense in San Antonio than that opener, the Hornets showed that starting out the season last year with three straight wins makes them a more solid choice to cash betting tickets out of the gate than the Spurs who generally begin seasons overvalued by the public and bookmakers.
Pinnacle Sports and Bookmaker opened the point spread for this matchup favoring the Spurs by 8 ½ points and it has since gone up to 9 at some sportsbooks. It is expected that San Antonio will get most of the action on this game as with most ESPN games involving a more high-profile popular team. As with Dallas and Cleveland losing outright yesterday, I do not value home court very much in the first week of the season as the traveling grind has not set in for teams yet. I generally spend the first two nights of any NBA season looking to go against home chalk and finding lines that are a bit too inflated. Take the 9 points here and look for the hungry Hornets to not be the practice dummies that the line is making them out to be here.
Another dog to get the money on Wednesday
Although ESPN is where the television action is tonight, another underdog I am looking to back is the Toronto Raptors +5½ as they host the Cavaliers.
Even with Cleveland losing last night possibly making them have more intensity on the court tonight, an early season back to back spot will not be a good situation for any team. This is especially the case with O’Neal in the lineup who sometimes sat in the second end of back to back games with the Suns last year. The Raptors are a team that should keep Cleveland moving a lot – wearing them out by the 4th quarter and a straight up win by Toronto would not be a shocker here. The Cavaliers would have also been a lot more focused on a home opener game against a marquee team like the Celtics than this matchup which they will probably take too lightly.
I also feel the line is too high and probably should have been a couple of points less given the situational spot of the game. Cleveland lost their first two road games last year and will continue being overvalued early in the season likely being a team with some home-road disparity even once they get rolling.
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Originally Posted by diogee
