Get to the Point

By Jimmy Harris

The Hornets can take another step to paying off on the futures bet I made on them with a win over the Spurs in San Antonio on Thursday night. Before the playoffs tipped off, I picked the Hornets to win both the Western Conference and the title at some very lucrative NBA future odds. A win on Thursday will send New Orleans to the Western Conference finals, leaving them four more wins away from paying me on my first future.

However, taking down the Spurs at home won't be an easy task. The home team has won every game in this series so far and they've won quite easily, by double digits in every game. The Spurs whipped the Hornets 110-99 in Game 3 and destroyed them 100-80 in Game 4. It goes without saying that San Antonio easily covered the point spread in both wins.

What is worth noting is that the Spurs' dominance at home didn't start against New Orleans. San Antonio also won every home game against the Suns in the opening round and, including the regular season, they've won their last nine games at the AT&T Center.

In fact they're 18-2 in their last 20 home games. With numbers like that, it's no surprise that the oddsmakers at online sportsbook have listed the Spurs as a 7-point favorite in Thursday night's game.

In Game 5 it was all about Hornets' forward David West. West was a one-man wrecking crew while racking up 38 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks to lead New Orleans to the easy win.

To swat the Hornets in Game 6, the Spurs will need to hold West in check like they did in Game 4, when he had only 10 points and five rebounds on a horrible 4-of-15 shooting.

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