New Orleans at San Antonio

As we predicted, the Spurs, and their championship pride, shone through in game three as they won by 11 points. It was a high-scoring first half - the highest of the series. But, we think this game more resembles the first two in terms of scoring. In those two games, 94 and 85 points were scored in the first half. The Spurs know they need to play defense here which is their calling card at home. Chris Paul and Tony Parker had career games in game three and both defenses will adjust to slow them down a bit here. Tim Duncan is looking old and just isn't finding his shots. He's averaging just 13 ppg thus far. On the season, the Spurs averaged just 44.8 ppg allowed here in this building. They are 15-7 UNDER in the first-half their last 22 games vs. teams at .600 or better. The Hornets are 28-16 UNDER in the first-half following an OVER this season. They are also 15-4 UNDER in the first-half revenging a double-digit loss. That includes a perfect 10-0 UNDER mark on the road in that situation! Finally, the Hornets are 20-9 UNDER in the first-half this season after a game in which 205+ points were scored. We like a low-scoring, high intensity first-half here.