NBA Today
SCOREBOARD
Thursday, Nov. 27
New Orleans at Denver (10:30 p.m. EST). Chris Paul and the Hornets, on a three-game winning streak, visit Carmelo Anthony and the Nuggets, who are 5-1 at home.
BROADWAY SHOW
LeBron James scored 26 points before sitting out the fourth quarter and Cleveland quickly took a charged-up New York crowd out of the game in a 119-101 victory over the Knicks. James was cheered loudly by fans hoping someday to see him play in New York. His first visit to Madison Square Garden this season came just days after the Knicks made a pair of trades that cleared enough salary cap space for a potential run at him in free agency during the summer of 2010.
THUNDERSTRUCK
Matt Barnes hit a 3-pointer from the left wing with 25.7 seconds left to complete Phoenix’s fourth-quarter rally in a 99-98 victory at Oklahoma City. The Thunder (1-14) had two final chances to win, but Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook both missed shots on their final possession. The Suns scrambled around the court to run out the final 8.4 seconds without getting fouled, handing Oklahoma City its 12th straight loss.
SIDELINED
Milwaukee center Andrew Bogut will be out for a week to 10 days after sustaining a bone bruise to his left knee Monday night in a loss at Orlando. Bogut is averaging 11.4 points and 10.9 rebounds this season. … Miami forward Dorell Wright is expected to miss at least three weeks after having surgery to remove debris from his left knee. Wright has played only one game for the Heat since he tore his left meniscus on March 2 and had surgery the following day.
ON THE MEND
Charlotte Bobcats top scorer Jason Richardson practiced for the first time since undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery and could play Wednesday in Toronto. Richardson has missed six straight games since waking up with pain and swelling in his right knee on Nov. 12, a day after scoring 23 points in a loss to Denver. Doctors performed exploratory surgery and found no structural damage.
DONE DEAL
The trade that sent Zach Randolph from New York to the Los Angeles Clippers was completed, though Cuttino Mobley still wasn’t available to play for the Knicks. The deal was made Friday but was hung up when the Knicks reportedly learned of a heart condition during Mobley’s physical. New York waived the physical requirement to finalize the deal. Knicks president Donnie Walsh wouldn’t reveal the nature of Mobley’s medical condition, but said Mobley wouldn’t be available Tuesday against Cleveland or Wednesday night in Detroit while he underwent additional testing. Walsh added he didn’t know if Mobley would ever play for the Knicks.
SPEAKING
“Now that we got ‘Obama’ on the sideline with us, we’re going to ride with it. Tap, he’s light-skinned, he stands for change, he’s got a law degree, he uses big words, and he’s new in the district, and he’s in control now, so shout out to Obama. We won tonight; he brought a lot of hope. … And he’s good with numbers, so hopefully he’ll change the economy as well.”—Washington forward Caron Butler after the Wizards (2-10) routed Golden State 124-100 to snap a five-game skid in Ed Tapscott’s first game as coach.
ORLANDO (11 - 4) at WASHINGTON (2 - 10)
Top Trends for this game.
ORLANDO is 64-41 ATS (+18.9 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.
ORLANDO is 43-29 ATS (+11.1 Units) as a favorite over the last 2 seasons.
ORLANDO is 33-19 ATS (+12.1 Units) in road games over the last 2 seasons.
ORLANDO is 22-8 ATS (+13.2 Units) in November games over the last 2 seasons.
ORLANDO is 31-17 ATS (+12.3 Units) first half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
ORLANDO is 33-20 ATS (+11.0 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record over the last 2 seasons.
WASHINGTON is 66-93 ATS (-36.3 Units) in November games since 1996.
WASHINGTON is 3-13 ATS (-11.3 Units) in home games vs. division opponents over the last 3 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
ORLANDO is 6-2 against the spread versus WASHINGTON over the last 3 seasons
ORLANDO is 6-3 straight up against WASHINGTON over the last 3 seasons
5 of 9 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
NEW ORLEANS (8 - 5) at DENVER (10 - 5)
Top Trends for this game.
NEW ORLEANS is 20-41 ATS (-25.1 Units) in road games after a win by 10 points or more since 1996.
NEW ORLEANS is 61-45 ATS (+11.5 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.
NEW ORLEANS is 55-35 ATS (+16.5 Units) when playing with 2 days rest since 1996.
DENVER is 98-135 ATS (-50.5 Units) when playing on back-to-back days since 1996.
Head-to-Head Series History
NEW ORLEANS is 5-2 against the spread versus DENVER over the last 3 seasons
NEW ORLEANS is 4-3 straight up against DENVER over the last 3 seasons
4 of 7 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
ORLANDO vs. WASHINGTON
Orlando is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games
Orlando is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games on the road
Washington is 1-5 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Orlando
Washington is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games when playing Orlando
NEW ORLEANS vs. DENVER
New Orleans is 4-9 ATS in its last 13 games on the road
New Orleans is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games on the road
Denver is 1-6 ATS in its last 7 games when playing at home against New Orleans
Denver is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games when playing New Orleans
Orlando at Washington
Orlando: 33-19 ATS in road games
Washington: 3-13 ATS at home vs. division
New Orleans at Denver
New Orleans: 31-19 ATS off road game
Denver: 1-9 ATS off SU win/ATS loss
New Orleans (8-5, 4-8-1 ATS) at Denver (10-5, 9-5-1 ATS)
The Hornets resume a three-game road trip when they head to Mile High City to battle the Nuggets in a clash of Western Conference squads.
New Orleans has followed up a 2-5 slump with three straight victories, two over the lowly Thunder (105-80, 109-97) and Sunday’s 98-87 rout at the L.A. Clippers. The Hornets cashed as a 6½-point road chalk in Sunday’s contest, and even though they’ve covered in consecutive road games, they’re still just 2-7-1 ATS in their last 10 overall.
Like the Hornets, Denver is coming off a win at the Clippers, having gone to Los Angeles last night and survived 106-105 as the Clippers’ last-second three-point attempt fell short. The Nuggets are one of the hottest teams in the league, having won nine of their last 11, but since starting the year on a 6-1 ATS tear, they’re only 3-4-1 ATS in their last seven (1-1-1 ATS at home), including failing to cash last night as a four-point road chalk.
These squads have split their last 10 meetings since the start of the 2005 season, with the SU winner going 9-1 ATS during this stretch. Last year, New Orleans took two of the three meetings, cashing each time, including a 93-88 win as a five-point pup in its only visit to Denver, improving to 6-1 ATS in its last seven trips to the Pepsi Center. Finally, in this rivalry, the visitor is 9-3 ATS in the last 12 clashes, while the underdog is 7-2 ATS in the last nine.
The Hornets were one of the best pointspread teams in the NBA last year, but they enter this game in ATS slumps of 3-8 against the Western Conference, 4-9 on the road, 2-11 on Thursdays and 0-4-1 against winning teams. On the plus side, they’re 13-6 ATS in their last 19 when coming off two days’ rest.
Denver is on ATS runs of 4-1-1 at home, 4-1 on Thursdays, 9-1 against the Southwest Division and 4-0 when playing on back-to-back nights.
For the Nuggets, the under is on runs of 16-8 overall, 7-3 at home, 20-7 when facing the Southwest Division, 4-1 against the Western Conference and 4-0 in back-to-back situations. Also, the under is 8-2 in the Hornets’ last 10 overall and 4-0 in its last four on the highway.
ATS ADVANTAGE: UNDER
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