NBA Saturday night action will see the Dallas Mavericks travel to New Orleans to take on the Hornets. The game is scheduled for an 8 p.m. tipoff and it will be televised locally and on NBAtv. Currently the odds have the Mavericks favored by 5.5 points with the total sitting at 174.5 points, down from the opener of 175 points. In a matchup of two teams looking for a win, the oddmakers have the visiting Mavs favored and looking to capitalize on the road.
Free Analysis: With the shortened NBA season and schedule, both teams will be playing their third game in four nights. While the Mavericks are obviously the better team as a whole, it has to favor the home team, at least in this instance. Or maybe not. The Hornets are coming off a road loss to Houston on Thursday night and had previously played two in a row at home. Dallas, on the other hand, is traveling from a win in Utah over the Jazz and this contest will be their final in a four game road swing in six days, which saw them play back-to-back games in Los Angeles to open the week. New Orleans is one of the worst teams in the league, having not won since a 94-81 victory over the Nuggets on Jan. 9. Without that win, the Hornets would be in a current streak of 13 straight losses. They won their opening two contest but since the haven't been able to play well. They're also a very bad team at home this season, winning just once in eight games, dropping seven straight in New Orleans. Dallas hasn't exactly excelled on the road, winning just three times in eight chances. Both teams should be tired with so many games in the last few days and it will be interesting to see just how Dallas approaches this game. Do they show up and contend, play hard and get out of town or do they mail it in and not show up? The squad will try to end an 11-game road losing streak against the Hornets in this matchup, so there might be some added motivation there. But there might be some revenge here for New Orleans, as they were dumped a few weeks ago 96-81 by the Mavs in Dallas. Dirk Nowitzki, who has obviously been banged up the past few games, is averaging under 14 points per game in the last nine contest for Dallas. The Mavericks will play their third straight without Vince Carter, out with a foot problem. If the Mavericks can play good defense inside, it might be the first step in a recipe for winning the contest on the road. New Orleans is one of the worst teams in the league at shooting from downtown, connected on just 27.5 percent, but they still keep shooting them. Marco Belinelli is the only Hornet with at least 10 attempts who is above 30 percent. THAT in itself can't be good for the Hornets.
Free Pick: Hard to pick with either of these teams given the amount of games they've played this week, but I really don't see a situation where we could back the Hornets and feel good about it. This line is a bit interesting because the Mavs are favored only by 5.5 points so maybe we are falling for the proverbial "trap" here, but the Hornets are THAT BAD. Obviously Dirk is knicked up and the Mavs won't play with Vince Carter again, and they are going through some growing pains right now as well. Whether or not the "target" is on their back or not remains to be scene, but right now they are being beat up by the small and short NBA schedule to this point, like most teams. However, I'll take the better team here and lay the points, even on the road.
Free Picks: Mavs at Hornets Betting
Bad scheduling spot for both teams and Expect Mavs to be looking ahead plus other factors NBA bettors need to know about Mavs at Hornets (Saturday, January 21, 2012) from Pregame.com - Including predictions from Marco D'Angelo and analysis from Stephen Nover.