The San Antonio Spurs were killed in Games 1 and 2 of the Western Conference Semi-finals against the New Orleans Hornets, in New Orleans. Now Game 3 is in San Antonio and the Spurs must turn around their sloppy play and win tonight’s game in dominating fashion. Oddsmakers at SBGglobal.com think they can, as the Spurs are 6 ½-point favorites over the Hornets with the over/under listed at 183. Get your NBA Playoff Prediction in now at SBGglobal.com

The Hornets won the first two games by an average of 18pts and both games they were 3-point home favorites easily cashing in on the spread. Chris Paul improved in Game 2 with 30pts and 12 assists after a dismal 17pts in Game 1. Peja Stojakovic also improved after making 2 of 4 from beyond the arch in Game 1 to making 5 of 7 in Game 2. They blew out the Spurs with 48% made from the field, 58% from the 3-point line and 83% at the free throw line. They caused the Spurs 15 turnovers and stole the ball six times. The Hornets are gelling nicely as a team. New Orleans coach Byron Scott called his young team "hungry" and said they've thrived in their underdog role this season. "We're not only playing the champions, we're playing for respect, because we felt all season long like we really haven't gotten it," he said. Everyone thought experience would trump youth, but it hasn’t panned out that way, yet! The Hornets are 1-2 SU on the road in the playoffs, 3-0 ATS and 10-3 ATS on two days rest.

The Spurs shooting has been outright awful, they turned over the ball, missed open shots and looked slow next to the energetic Hornets. They’ve turned over the ball 28 times in both games combined, the Jazz are double teaming Tim Duncan forcing the Spurs to shoot from the outside, and they aren’t going down. "It sounds, like, easy, but we just have to play better," Tony Parker said. "They just outplayed us the first two games and now we're playing at home and we have to make more shots and play better defense. ... We're going to change stuff but at the end of the day it's just basketball." Expect the Spurs to play a much more physical game tonight and a lot of field goal attempts. They are 3-0 SU at home in the playoffs, 2-1 ATS at home and 4-7 ATS on two days rest.

Recent Trends to Consider

• Hornets are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games as a road underdog of 5.0-10.5.
• Hornets are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games as an underdog of 5.0-10.5.
• Hornets are 1-9 ATS in their last 10 Thursday games.
• Spurs are 7-0-1 ATS in their last 8 playoff games as a favorite of 5.0-10.5.
• Spurs are 14-3-2 ATS in their last 19 playoff games as a favorite.
• Spurs are 6-2-1 ATS in their last 9 home games.
• Home team is 4-0 ATS in the last 4 meetings.
• Favorite is 9-4 ATS in the last 13 meetings.

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