Portland Trail Blazers at New Orleans Hornets

Betting Odds

Portland (43-31, 38-32-4 ATS) is coming off a 100-92 win in San Antonio. The Blazers are a rock-solid 6-2 in their past eight games, including a 6-2 run against NBA odds. They covered against the shorthanded Spurs, ending a two-game skid against the spread. In fact, Portland is a rather impressive 10-4 in its last 14 games against the spread.

The Trail Blazers lucked out against San Antonio, which sat four of its starters. Still, the Blazers took care of business, using a 15-1 run late in the game to earn the victory, and a win is a win.

With the playoffs coming, Portland has to be a little worried LaMarcus Aldridge is burnt out. The big man has scored less than 20 points in four of his last six games, including just nine points against the Spurs on Sunday. He also hasn’t recorded double-digit rebounds since March 17 against the Cavaliers, a span of six games. Aldridge is averaging just 16.8 points and 6.1 rebounds in that span, well down from his season averages of 21.9 points and 8.6 rebounds. Aldridge averaged 42 minutes of playing time in February, so fatigue may have set in.

New Orleans (42-32, 35-36-3 ATS) continues to drag its feet. The Hornets can’t build any serious momentum, and they haven’t won three or more consecutive games since their 10-game winning streak came to an end in late January. After winning back-to-back games last week, New Orleans fell 102-84 to the Lakers on Sunday. The loss dropped the Hornets to 1-4-1 in their past six games against the spread.

Of course, the chances of New Orleans building any sort of momentum decreased greatly last week when forward David West went down with a season-ending knee injury. West blew out his ACL in last Thursday’s win over the Jazz. West was New Orleans’ top scorer (18.9 points) and second-leading rebounder (7.6 rebounds); replacing that kind of production will certainly not be easy.

While Carl Landry (11.1 points, 3.6 boards per game) and Jason Smith (4.2 points, 3.1 rebounds per game) should see increased playing time, the club will likely just shift even more emphasis on point guard Chris Paul. Paul is averaging 20.8 points and 11.0 assists in seven games since returning from a neck injury.

Portland and New Orleans have split their past 10 games against each other, with the Hornets leading 2-1 this season. The Hornets are also 2-1 ATS against the Blazers this year, though Portland won and covered the last game 103-96. The total has gone over in four of their past five meetings. Bodog has set the total for Wednesday’s game at 181.5 points.

Point Spread Pick

Surprisingly the Hornets haven't been dominated on the glass in the two games that forward D. West has missed. If they can continue that play tonight they shouldn't have a problem with the Trail Blazers who in most cases need to win the battle on the boards to have any chance of winning.
Take the Hornets +1 at 5Dimes.com and get reduced juice every day!