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**THE LINE WAS -2 WHEN IT WAS RELEASED TO MY CUSTOMERS. I STILL LIKE CHARLOTTE UNTIL -4***
NBA Pick: 501 Denver Nuggets @ 502 Charlotte Hornets
Rating: 3 units - Single Dime Play
Pick: Charlotte Hornets (-2) (Play up to -4)
Odds: -113 / 1.88 on Pinnacle Sports OR -115 / 1.87 on Bookmaker
Detailed Write Up:
Charlotte has won their last two games against Utah and Philadelphia, in two games where it was clear that their defense is starting to improve. Even though the opponents weren't very strong, the truth is that with Stephenson out with injury and Kidd-Gilchrist back from injury, the Hornets' defense is now back at good form. It might be truth that the Hornets' interior defense doesn't have a great opponent FG% at the rim, but they are the team who allows the least amount of shots from their opponents at the rim. For example, Utah scored 30 points in the paint, while shooting 13-17 FG at the rim.
Of course this causes problems to their perimeter defense, but this won't be a big problem against a Denver team, whose perimeter shooting is very poor, especially with Gallinari once again out. Denver will possibly have a big issue for tonight's game and that's the possibility of their PG Lawson being out. However, even if he plays, the fact that he needs to carry his team's offense almost on his own is causing his back to hurt again and with that, Denver's offense is struggling big time. On the other side, Charlotte's offense should score a number of enough points to win tonight, especially via Jefferson's post ups and Kemba's drives into the basket. Therefore, I'll be taking the Hornets tonight.