Hornets at Magic – NBA Picks: The New Orleans Hornets (27-24), currently sitting in the 10th spot of the NBA Western Conference Standings, visit the Southeastern Conference leading Orlando Magic (34-17) for a cross-conference battle. The Magic are looking for their ninth win in 11 games. Tonight's game will be televised on TNT with an 8 pm Eastern start time.
NBA picks oddsmakers at SPORTSBETTING.com list the Magic as 9 1/2-chalk favorites verus the Hornets with a 193 1/2 total. Hornets backers are getting +425 odds on the SPORTSBETTING moneyline while Orlando is giving -550.
The Hornets are still coping with the absence of injured All-Star guard Chris Paul, but rookie Darren Collison delivered Saturday in a 104-99 victory at Charlotte that snapped a three-game losing streak. Making his fifth straight start for the injured Paul, Collison scored a season-high 25 points on 9-of-17 shooting.
Orlando appeared to be cruising to a fifth consecutive win Friday, but blew a 21-point lead to lose 92-91 to last-place Washington after being outscored 39-17 in the third quarter.
NBA Picks: One trend in the favor of Hornets backers is their ability to stay in games. Only twice in the last 16 games have the Hornets lost by double-digits. With tonight's line at -9 1/2 favoring the Magic we will go with New Orleans.
