New Orleans at Denver

There really were some pitiful performances in game one of the NBA first round playoffs, and you have to think that New Orleans was right up at or near the top of that list of stinkers. The Hornets allowed Denver over 50% shooting both for the game and from beyond the arc, got schooled on the boards by 14, and lost by 29 points. There is usually a much better encore effort by teams that get dunked this bad. The fact is that under a certain dismal performance situation, such as what occurred here in game one, teams have responded by going 42-22 ATS in the next game - applicable to the Hornets here. I would expect the Hornets, a solid defensive team to make the commitment, and adjustments defensively here. The Hornets are 42-24 ATS the past three seasons off a road loss including 18-5 ATS if the loss was by double digits! The past two seasons they are nearly perfect (9-1) ATS following a loss by 20+ points. I like the Hornets to get it done here. I also like this one to go UNDER the total in the first half. Despite Denver shooting 50% all the way around as mentioned above, and the Hornets hitting nine from beyond the arc at 43%, the first game still played UNDER the total with just 197 total scored. I expect this one to get more physical and defensive, especially early on. The Hornets are 25-15 UNDER in the first half this season on the road. When playing with two days rest, they are 8-1 UNDER in the first half. The past two seasons New Orleans is 27-12 UNDER in the first half when revenging a road loss and this season they are 24-13 UNDER in the first half when facing a team that averages 100+ points per game. Hornets and the first-half UNDER.