Hornets aim to stop skid vs. Warriors

Basketball Betting Lines

03/08/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Hornets are in danger of recording their longest losing streak in three years. Fortunately for the struggling club, it'll be facing one of the NBA's poorest road teams when the Golden State Warriors enter the Big Easy tonight for a Western Conference matchup.

New Orleans has dropped its last four games and five of the past six contests to fall to 11th place in the West, five games back of Portland for the conference's eighth and final playoff seed. Since All-Star point guard Chris Paul suffered a knee injury in late January, the Hornets have gone a subpar 6-11.

The Hornets' latest mishap occurred Friday in San Antonio, where seven Spurs players scored in double figures in a 102-91 victory over their Southwest Division rivals.

New Orleans was within striking distance after three quarters of play, trailing by a 74-69 score, but Manu Ginobili's three-pointer two minutes into the fourth ignited a 13-5 run that enabled the Spurs to pull away.

"We competed and played extremely hard," said Hornets head coach Jeff Bower. "I thought we played well for a lot of the game. I don't think we had enough plays to come out on the plus side on the road."

Darren Collison poured in 32 points for the Hornets in a losing cause, with David West compiling 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists on the night. Marcus Thornton scored 18 points before leaving the game in the fourth quarter with an upper back strain, although the rookie is expected to play tonight.

New Orleans, which hasn't lost five in a row since a six-game slide from March 2-13, 2007, will play six of its next seven on the road following tonight's tilt.

Golden State has also been without its best player for some time, with high- scoring guard Monta Ellis slated to sit out a sixth straight game this evening due to a sore back. Even with Ellis available, the Warriors haven't had much success in enemy buildings this season, having lost 27 of their 31 outings as the visitor for the campaign.

The Warriors have been dealt defeats in each of the first four tests of a road trip that concludes tonight, including Saturday's 101-90 setback at Charlotte. Golden State trailed just 86-85 midway through the fourth quarter, before the Bobcats put together a 15-2 spurt to kill any comeback hopes.

"We hung around for a long time. They finally figured out a way to hurt us with the zone (defense)," Warriors head coach Don Nelson said. "We kept waiting -- and we got away with it for a long, long time -- and they finally got it in the middle of our zone and that was pretty much the end of it."

Stephen Curry led Golden State, which shot just 38.2 percent from the field, with 25 points, with Corey Maggette finishing with 19 points in the loss.

The Warriors also played Saturday's game without starting center Andris Biedrins (groin), while replacement Ronny Turiaf left in the first quarter after straining his left knee. Neither player is expected to be in uniform tonight.

New Orleans has won both previous meetings between the teams in 2009-10, including a 108-102 decision at home on December 23.

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Super Bowl XLIV Odds

Super Bowl XLIII isn't even a week old yet and oddsmakers have already released Super Bowl XLIV odds.

Despite the Pittsburgh Steelers winning Super Bowl 43, the New England Patriots are 8/1 favorites to win Super Bowl 44.

Bet Super Bowl XLIV Future Odds

With their 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII, the Steelers became the latest NFL champion. But believe it or not, oddsmakers from online sports book MySportsbook.com don't have the Steelers the favorites to win Super Bowl XLIV next season.

That honor belongs to the New England Patriots, who are 8/1 favorites to win despite not even qualify for the postseason in 2008. The Pats also have a major decision to make regarding what to do with Matt Cassel, who played well in Tom Brady's (knee surgery) absence last year but is also a free agent this offseason.

Ironically, the Steelers aren't even oddsmakers second choice to win Super Bowl 44, as the Dallas Cowboys are listed right behind the Patriots at 9/1 despite not making the playoffs themselves. Clearly oddsmakers think the public will hop back on the Cowboys' bandwagon considering the immense talent they have and the opening of a brand new stadium.

After Dallas, then comes Pittsburgh at 10/1, but they share those odds with the New York Giants, who won Super Bowl XLII. The Indianapolis Colts and San Diego Chargers round out the top six teams at 12/1, while the Baltimore Ravens (14/1), Tennessee Titans (16/1), Carolina Panthers (18/1) and Philadelphia Eagles (18/1) complete the top 10.

The NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals got no love from oddsmakers as they were established as a 30/1 long shot to win next year's Super Bowl. They share those same odds with the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers – two teams that didn't even qualify for the postseason. Other long shots are the Kansas City Chiefs (100/1), Detroit Lions (100/1), St. Louis Rams (75/1) and Oakland Raiders (75/1).

To see a complete list of all the team's odds to win Super Bowl XLIV, check below.

NFL TEAM FUTURE ODDS TO WIN SUPER BOWL XLIV

New England Patriots 8/1

Dallas Cowboys 9/1

New York Giants 10/1

Pittsburgh Steelers 10/1

Indianapolis Colts 12/1

San Diego Chargers 12/1

Baltimore Ravens 14/1

Tennessee Titans 16/1

Carolina Panthers 18/1

Philadelphia Eagles 18/1

New Orleans Saints 20/1

Atlanta Falcons 25/1

Denver Broncos 25/1

Green Bay Packers 25/1

Jacksonville Jaguars 25/1

Minnesota Vikings 25/1

New York Jets 25/1

Arizona Cardinals 30/1

Chicago BearS 30/1

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30/1

Buffalo Bills 35/1

Houston TexaNS 35/1

Miami Dolphins 35/1

Washington Redskins 35/1

Seattle SeahawkS 50/1

Cleveland Browns 55/1

Cincinnati Bengals 60/1

San Francisco 49ers 60/1

Oakland Raiders 75/1

St. Louis Rams 75/1

Detroit Lions 100/1

Kansas City Chiefs 100/1

Odds as of: 2/2/09

Bet Super Bowl XLIV Future Odds

To visit this online sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.