The Suns wrap up their two-game trip to the Gulf Coast on Thursday when the team faces the Hornets in the Big Easy.

Phoenix is coming off a 111-105 victory against Houston on Tuesday, which saw the team outscore the Rockets 33-23 in the final 12 minutes. Amare Stoudemire led all Suns with 23 points and Steven Nash dished out 16 assists. Surprisingly, the team was just 28 percent (6-of-21) from 3-point land, which is way below their season average of 43.8 percent.

New Orleans earned its first victory under new head coach Jeff Bower on Wednesday when the team knocked off the Los Angeles Clippers, 110-102. Bower, who took over for the fired Byron Scott, lost his first two since taking on the role as coach and general manger. Not helping his start was the loss of point Chris Paul (ankle), who could miss several weeks.

Rookie point guard Darren Collison recorded his fourth straight game of 10 points or more, plus he added six assists. The former UCLA standout will be needed to pick up the slack for Paul both offensively and more importantly defensively.

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The Hornets have given up 100-plus points in three of their last four games, with Portland being the lone team that was held under the plateau and it likes to slow it down.

Tonight, New Orleans will be looking to avenge a 124-104 nationally televised loss to Phoenix last Wednesday. The Hornets had Paul in that contest and he led the team in points (25), assists (6) and steals (4). Do you think the outcome will be worse without CP3?

Phoenix was listed as a 6 ½-point home favorite in that victory and the oddsmakers have kept the line (-7) in the same range even though the Hornets are at home. The total is hovering around 216 points and the 'over' has gone 6-1 in the last seven head-to-head battles.

Prior to last Wednesday’s setback, this head-to-head series was owned by New Orleans. The Hornets has won and covered six of the previous seven encounters. The ‘over’ went 4-2-1 during this span.

Phoenix has been a beast on the road this year, going 6-2 SU and 5-3 ATS. The two losses were kind of expected and both had the Suns playing their second game in two nights. Plus it doesn’t help when you meet the two teams that played in the NBA Finals last year, the Magic and Lakers.

It’s safe to say the Suns aren’t on the championship level yet but they do boast five players that can finish off games with big shots, something the Hornets don’t have at all.

New Orleans has gone 3-2 SU and 2-3 ATS at home, but delving into the numbers further we find out that two of the victories came against the Kings and Clippers and the other triumph was an overtime win over Dallas, which had no business seeing an extra five minutes. In case you don’t follow the NBA nightly, it should be noted that the Mavs missed a pair from the charity strip that would’ve closed the game.

Things don’t get easier for the banged-up Hornets, who welcome the red-hot Hawks to town on Saturday. After playing eight of their last 10 on the road, the Suns catch the Pistons and Grizzlies in the desert next week.

TNT will provide national coverage of this game at 8:05 p.m. EST.

Chicago (6-4 SU, 4-6 ATS) at Los Angeles (8-3 SU, 4-6 ATS)

Perhaps a change of scenery was needed for the Bulls. Chicago opened its annual “Circus Trip” by cruising past Sacramento 101-87 as three-point road favorite on Tuesday. The 101-point outburst for Vinny Del Negro’s team was a season-high.

Despite combining for 188 points, the game still went ‘under’ the closing number of 196.5 and some ‘over’ players probably weren’t too happy with the 30-spot posted in the fourth. Ouch.

On the year, the Bulls have now seen the ‘under’ go 8-2.

Looking at the six-game road trek further, Tuesday’s affair was probably the one game you’d give the Bulls a chance because the next five are tough and it starts Thursday against the defending champs.

The Lakers went 36-5 last year at Staples Center during their championship run and even though its early, head coach Phil Jackson has to be a little concerned that the team has already dropped two at home this season.

After getting humbled 101-91 at home by Houston on Sunday as a nine-point favorite, Los Angeles showed its true colors by running past Detroit 106-93 on Tuesday. Gamblers playing correlated parlays with the Lakers-Over have now cashed four of the last five times when they play at home.

Will it happen again on Thursday? Los Angeles has been tabbed a 9 1/2-point home favorite, while the total opened at 191 and now sits at 192. The line makes sense according to their offensive stats, since the Lakers are averaging 101 PPG and the Bulls are posting 90.4 PPG.

Los Angeles has won and covered six of the last seven meetings against Chicago, including both regular season battles last year. The pair of games went 'over' in the 2008-09 season, which snapped a nine-game 'under' streak.

The Bulls continue their trip with a battle against Denver on Saturday, while the Lakers will be off until Sunday when Oklahoma City and its young guns visit L.A.
 
Tip off for this contest is set for 10:35 p.m. EST, with TNT providing national coverage.

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