The Bobcats clinch first playoff berth with NBA betting beat down of New Orleans

With an opportunity to lock up the first playoff berth in franchise history, the Charlotte Bobcats will head to the Bayou where they’ll tangle with the New Orleans Hornets in Wednesday night NBA betting action.

The Bobcats moved within a game of the postseason on Tuesday night when they trumped Atlanta at home 109-100, their sixth win in their L/8 games (5-3 ATS).

Meanwhile, the most recent team from Charlotte has struggled mightily down the stretch, dropping three straight, eight out of ten, and 15 out of 19 overall. The white flag on the season might’ve come up four nights ago in the Hornets’ most recent game, as they were destroyed by the lowly New Jersey Nets 115-87 at the IZOD Center.

Charlotte Bobcats (41-36, 43-33-1 ATS) vs. New Orleans Hornets (35-43, 34-43-1 ATS)

Game Date/Time: Wednesday, April 7th, 8:00 ET
Game Location: New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, LA
TV/Radio Broadcast: FOX-Carolina, CST, Sirius Radio

NBA Odds:
Charlotte Bobcats -1
New Orleans Hornets +1
Game Total 191.5

Tuesday night’s win didn’t come without a bit of a price for the Bobcats. F Tyrus Thomas is now considered day-to-day with a banged up thumb, and he is questionable for tonight’s action in New Orleans. He only played 12 minutes against the Hawks, scoring eight points.

Thomas is a key cog to a defense which is only allowing 93.6 points per game this year, the best in the NBA. That defense has sparkled on the road of late, not allowing a team to reach 100 points against it away from home since giving up 104 points at Boston Garden on March 3rd. In that stretch through seven games, the Bobcats have only allowed 89.6 points per game.

However, thanks to a lackluster offense, they are only 3-4 SU, but are 4-2-1 ATS in those seven NBA betting contests.

Even though G Chris Paul came back to the lineup a few weeks ago, the Hornets have just shown no pulse and no desire to play out the rest of this season.

After averaging over 18 points per game this season, the Wake Forest product hasn’t scored more than 16 points since his return to the lineup on March 22nd. He has only averaged 9.4 points and 8.0 assists per game in his L/7. To no one’s surprise, New Orleans is just 2-5 SU and ATS in those seven.

Of late, this New Orleans team just can’t seem to do anything right. The squad has allowed at least 100 points in five of its L/6, while only scoring 100+ in two of those six.

NBA Insider Betting Tip: The Bobcats are 19-6-1 ATS in their L/26 games in which their starters played a composite total of at least 160 minutes in their previous game.

The NBA betting trends clearly point to a Charlotte cover in this game. They’re also 22-8-1 ATS in their L/31 games without a day of rest and 4-1 ATS in their L/5 against the Western Conference.

Though New Orleans is 7-1 ATS in its L/8 against the Southeast Division, it is only 3-13 ATS in its L/16 games played at New Orleans Arena against squads with a road winning percentage of less than .400.

Look for the Bobcats to march into N’Awlins and comfortably clinch up their first playoff berth in franchise history in one of Wednesday night’s premier NBA betting battles.

My NBA Prediction: Bobcats by 8