Phoenix Suns at New Orleans Hornets, 8 p.m.

Line
Phoenix -6
Over 217.5

Key Numbers
Phoenix (10-2 SU, 7-5 ATS, 5-3 ATS away)
New Orleans (4-8 SU, 4-8 ATS, 2-3 ATS at home)

Important Trends
Phoenix is 2-0 SU and 2-0 ATS against teams from the Southwest this season
Phoenix is 4-1 ATS in their last five games against teams from the Southwest
Phoenix is 4-1 ATS in their last five road games
New Orleans is 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games after a SU win
New Orleans is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games against a team with a winning record

Restless
Very rarely do you see two trends as opposite as this but the Suns are 5-0 ATS when playing one-day rest. Phoenix played on Tuesday at Houston (winning, 111-105, as 2.5-point underdogs). New Orleans, on the other hand, is 0-4 ATS in its last four games playing on one-day rest.

Divisional Dominance
Playing the NBA Southwest has spelled success for the Suns. Against the division this season they won twice and covered twice and in their last five against teams from New Orleans' division, Phoenix is 4-1 ATS. Playing the NBA Pacific has spelled trouble for the Hornets. They are 2-5 ATS this season against teams from the Pacific.

Breakdown
The Suns have been the surprise story in the NBA. The Hornets have been the disappointment of the NBA season thus far and that has cost their former coach, Byron Scott, his job. Since firing Scott the Hornets are 1-2 SU and 1-2 ATS.

In the previous meeting between these two teams the Suns ran over the Hornets in Phoenix, 124-104. The Suns were favored by seven points in that game. The Hornets should not feel bad, Phoenix has scored at least 100 points every game this season.

The series between these two teams was dominated by New Orleans at a point last season as it won six consecutive games over the Suns and had covered nine consecutive games before a pair of SU and ATS losses to Phoenix in April of last season and a week ago this season.

Both teams play atrocious defense with New Orleans (104.5 points per game) ranking 24th in The Association and the Suns just slightly behind them at (106.3 points per game), ranking 26th.

Of the Hornets games covering the spread this season only one came against a team with an above average offense, Dallas. They defeated the Mavericks in overtime. Dallas has the 10th-best offense in the NBA. The other times New Orleans covered as against Boston (19th ranked offense) and the Clippers twice (21st).

Unfortunately for the Hornets, the Suns are scoring 110.4 points per game, second best in the league. This is a matchup nightmare for New Orleans. On top of that Chris Paul is out for the game and Center Hilton Armstrong is questionable for the game.

The pick is Phoenix giving the points