With two games to go in their season, the New Orleans Hornets, amazingly, could finish anywhere from the top of the Western Conference to fifth.
I'll try to simplify:
If New Orleans beats the Clippers tonight - and they are 15-point betting favorites (over/under: 197) at WagerWeb.com - they win the Southwest Division and are guaranteed no lower than the No. 2 seed in the conference. If they win tonight and Wednesday against Dallas and the Lakers lose on Tuesday night against the Kings, New Orleans would win the West.
If the Hornets lose both games, well ... let's try and think positive.
New Orleans needs to get some momentum heading into the playoffs regardless, as it has dropped three of its past four games.
"I'm worried a little bit because right now we're trying to outscore teams," Hornets point guard Chris Paul said. "The reason we were the No. 1 team in the Western Conference is because of our defense. Right now, I feel like we don't trust each other on the defensive end of the court. We can score with a lot of teams, but right now we're all just doing our own thing on the defensive end."Paul has struggled over the last week. He's averaging 13.0 points -- more than five below his season average -- and shooting 33.3 percent (16-for-48) from the field in his last four games. Paul has also struggled against the Clippers this season, averaging 11.7 points while hitting only 29.7 percent (11-for-37) from the floor. On the season, he's averaging 21.1 points, 11.6 assists and 2.7 steals.
The Hornets seem likely to get well tonight against the Clippers, a team New Orleans has beaten five straight times. The Clips have lost five straight overall (after winning in Elton Brand's season debut) and 23 of their past 24 games.
"Each game for us now is just trying to play hard, play to the best of our abilities and to get a win," Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. "I don't think our guys have quit."
On the road this season, the Clippers have beaten just one team that is currently in playoff position, winning at Toronto 102-98 on Feb. 8.
New Orleans is 3-0 against Los Angeles this season, outscoring the Clippers by an average margin of 14.0 points.
The Hornets are 29-11 as the hosts this season, while the Clippers are 10-29 as the visitors. On Jan. 25, the Hornets dominated the Clippers 111-92 in L.A.'s previous visit to the Big Easy.
Betting trends: L.A. is 34-46 ATS. ... New Orleans is 49-30-1 ATS. ... The total has gone over in the Clippers' last five games in New Orleans. ... Clippers are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games on the road. ... New Orleans is 5-0 ATS in their last 5 vs. the Clippers.
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