The New Orleans Hornets and the Oklahoma City Thunder will do battle tonight at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City. New Orleans probably enjoyed the All-Star break after playing miserably in the lead up to it; the brief respite gave the Hornets a chance to regroup for the stretch run, which they no doubt hope to be involved in. The Western Conference tilt is set to get under way at 8:00pm ET. 
New Orleans Hornets vs Oklahoma City Thunder NBA Picks at Sportsbook.com have the Thunder listed as a +3.5 against the spread home underdog.
The Hornets looked more like the Thunder in the lead up to All-Star weekend, dropping six of their last eight games. New Orleans averaged a miserable 90.1 points per game in that span, topping 93 just twice. In their final game before the annual breather, Chris Paul and company managed to score just 77 points against the Celtics in New Orleans.
Byron Scott's troops hit just 18 percent of their three point attempts and 40 percent of their field goals. They also turned the ball over 18 times against Boston's relentless defensive pressure. David West led the Hornets with 15 points but he made just 3 of his 12 shots from the floor and had three turnovers.
As a result of their recent slump, the 30-20 Hornets finds themselves in third place in the Southwest division, four and half games back of the first place Spurs. They trail the second place Rockets by a half game and lead the fourth place Mavericks on division record alone.
Oklahoma City headed into the break with the same kind of negative momentum that New Orleans did. The Thunder lost five of their last seven outings before the Phoenix vacation, including their last two games, both on the road. The Lakers took them out 98-105 on the 10th and the Trail Blazers up ended them 92-106 on the 11th.
Oklahoma City hit 39 percent from the field in the Portland loss and a far more dreadful 14 percent from three point range. The Trial Blazers, on the other hand, exploited the Thunder's defense, nailing 8-of-19 from beyond the arc.
Scott Brooks' rag-tag unit is in last place in the Northwest division with a 13-40 overall record. They do perform better at the Ford Center, where they have won 10 games in 28 opportunities. The Thunder average 97.7 points per game at home while giving up an average of 100.3 to visiting teams.
The Hornets and the Thunder announced today that they would partner in a trade that would ship New Orleans center Tyson Chandler to Oklahoma City in exchange for big men Joe Smith and Chris Wilcox. The three players are all suppose to sit out of tonight's action.
Sportsbook.com's New Orleans Hornets vs Oklahoma City Thunder NBA Picks:
New Orleans Hornets -3.5 (-110), Over 195 (-110), -165 (Moneyline)
Oklahoma City Thunder +3.5 (-110), Under 195 (-110), +145 (Moneyline)
NBA Picks Betting Trend: New Orleans is 10-0 straight up in their last 10 games as a road favorite with a spread between 0 and 3.5.
