Basketball Free Picks - February 17, 2009

Welcome back from the All-Star break. We are eager to get back to business. We entered the break on a 167-123 (58%) run for +91.7 units. Our updated power rankings at the mid-way point have Orlando leading the heap, slightly ahead of the Lakers. Today we have one selection...

Today's NBA Basketball Picks:

Game: New Orleans at Oklahoma City (8:00 PM Eastern)
Pick: 2 units on New Orleans -3 (-110) (risk 2 to win 1.8)

The break came at the right time for the Hornets as they would like to put an inconsistent and dissapointing first-half behind them. The good news is they came out of it with a 30-20 record and they are facing a 13-40 team tonight. There's a big difference in the defensive abilities of these two teams. The Thunder, after a horrendous start to the season, went on a nice little run in January. But, their last seven games has seen them go 2-5 SU and ATS. They have fared well when getting a lot of points, but when instilled as a favorite of small underdog, they are 5-8 ATS on the season. While they have struggled as a big favorite or dog, New Orleans has won eight of their last 11 games ATS as a small favorite of 3 or less. They are coming off an embarrassing 77-89 loss to Boston before the break and they are 19-8 ATS the past two seasons coming off a double-digit loss. I like the Hornets to get it done here.

NBA Basketball Picks Resources:

• Updated today: basketball prior picks.
• Check out our updated 2008 basketball betting preivew.
• Here we show our sports betting basketball.
• Here we show our NBA basketball Game-of-Day-Preview.
• View 2008 basketball pick results here.
• View our updated NBA ratings.
• Don't forget to read our NBA handicapping here.
• Take a look at our NBA odds lines and spreads here.
• Hop over to our NBA ATS standings here.
• Here we show our blog basketball.

Check out the last five NBA Basketball Picks Newsletters:

NBA-Basketball-Picks-February-12-2009
The Bulls have finally awakened and are playing their best basketball in two years. They followed a successful 4-3 road trip with a win at home over the Pistons. They have now gone 7-0-1 ATS in their ...

NBA-Basketball-Picks-February-11-2009
Nuggets rebounded nicely off 70 point offensive breakdown at New Jersey, but still managed under 100 points now for two in a row. That may be really bad news for Denver fans as good as the Denver offe...

NBA-Basketball-Picks-February-10-2009
Like most bad teams, Washington has made a couple of runs this season. They went 6-1 ATS during a stretch and 5-0 ATS in another. The truth is in their before and after their run. It shows that they a...

NBA-Basketball-Picks-February-09-2009
Charlotte is a surprising team to find that their overall record is a losing one, but they rank No. 6 team in the NBA in fewest points allowed per game. There is no other team with a losing record in ...

NBA-Basketball-Picks-February-08-2009
San Antonio comes off a four day lay off and has to face the World Champions. It's actually been a longer rest for the starters as most of them sat out a good portion of the Denver game. After los...