The Western Conference playoff picture will finally crystallize once and for all on Wednesday night, as NBA betting fans can sink their teeth into the clash between the New Orleans Hornets and the Dallas Mavericks.
The Hornets know that they are either going to be the No. 7 or No. 8 seed in the playoffs this year. They’ll stay at No. 7 with a win or a loss by the Memphis Grizzlies, and they’ll end up at No. 8 with a loss and a win by the Grizz on the last night of the season. The truth of the matter is that either way, this team is in a heck of a lot of trouble.
New Orleans has been blown out of the water in its last two games, getting crushed by the aforementioned Grizzlies 111-89 on the road and by the Utah Jazz 90-78 two nights ago in the Bayou. This is a team that is just 18-22 SU and 19-20-1 ATS on the season for NBA Free picks on the road, something that is going to probably rear its ugly head in a best of seven series against a solid home team in which at least one, if not more road wins are necessary for survival.
Averaging 95.0 points per game is going to probably be the lowest mark of any team in the postseason this year, and it ranks No. 27 in the league. The only blessing is that the Hornets do rank No. 4 in the league in defense at 93.7 points per game.
The Mavs are in the most intriguing spot of any team in the Western Conference right now. They would really love to win this game just to make sure that they stay out of that No. 4 slot, which would avoid a first round date with the stingy Denver Nuggets. Dallas will move down to No. 4 with a loss and a win by the Oklahoma City Thunder, but it would move up to the No. 2 slot with a win and a loss by the Los Angeles Lakers.
In fact, a win parlayed with losses by Memphis and LA would set this up as a first round postseason date starting this weekend. For a team that is on a three game winning streak, it’s going to be hard to see how the Mavs can rest their starters with so much on the line as they would like to, especially after watching Andrew Bynum get hurt last night for the Lakers.
Shawn Marion, Dirk Nowitzki, Tyson Chandler, Jason Kidd, and Jason Terry all played at least 35 minutes in the team’s most recent game against the Houston Rockets (granted, that game did go to overtime), and we tend to expect much of the same on Wednesday night.
Still, asking the Mavericks to win by double digits is a steep task against a team that does have something to play for as well. New Orleans’ defense shows up in good enough form to keep Dallas in the 90s, which should give it a chance to cover this hefty set of NBA odds.
NBA Free Pick: New Orleans Hornets
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