New Orleans at Los Angeles

New Orleans is a vastly improved team from last year, and the main reason is that they are healthy to start the season. They now have seven players that average double-digits a game (two of them are on the fringe at 9.7), so it is a much deeper team. They have also been slowing teams down, as they played a low-scoring game against Denver who likes to run and run. The Hornets are averaging only 80 shots a game, and their opponents 83. That has allowed the Hornets to be the fifth-best defensive team in the NBA. LA has been scoring, but has been playing offensive-minded teams except against Houston, where they only managed 93. No one has reached 50 points in the first half against the Hornets yet, and we believe they are a better team than the Lakers at this point in the season, so we will play the first-half under, and take the Hornets for the game.