Western Conference rivals New Orleans and Oklahoma City meet for the fourth time this season tonight as the two teams are slated to tangle at the Oklahoma City Arena. The Hornets and Thunder are scheduled to tip off at 8:00pm ET on NBA TV. The latest NBA Odds have the Thunder listed as a -7.5 against the spread favorite and the Over/Under set at 196.
New Orleans saw its 10 games win streak 
end on Saturday night in Sacramento. The Hornets followed up that loss with a 104-102 setback at Phoenix to bring its record 31-18 on the season.
New Orleans returned to its winning ways last night, though, with a 97-89 home win over the Washington Wizards. Six Hornets scored in double figures, but reserve Jason Smith led the team with 20. Smith, who started in place of the injured Ameka Okafor and will do so again this evening, hit nine of his 11 field goal attempts.
New Orleans owns a 12-13 road record this season, but it had won five straight away games until its back to back losses against the Kings and Suns.
The Hornets beat Oklahoma City 91-89 on January 24th to snap a four game losing against the Thunder. OKC won the first two meetings of the season 95-89 and 97-92, respectively.
The Thunder, which are 3-4 in their last seven games, saw a two game win streak end on Sunday with a 108-103 home loss to the Miami Heat. Offensively Oklahoma City got 33 points from Kevin Durant while Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook combined for 44 points and 11 assists. However, the Thunder's defense allowed the Heat to shoot 52 percent for the game, including 44.4 percent from beyond the arc.
Despite the loss, the Thunder, at 30-17, own a two game lead over the Utah Jazz in the Northwest standings.
Oklahoma City, which is 17-7 at home this year, had won six straight as a host prior to the loss against Miami.
NBA Odds Betting Trend: The Thunder are 8-2 straight up and 7-3 against the spread in their last 10 games as a home favorite with a spread between 4 and 7.5 (Over 9-1 in those games).
Hornets vs Thunder NBA Odds – February 2nd, 2011:
New Orleans Hornets +7.5 (-110), Over 196 (-110), +280 (Moneyline)
Oklahoma City Thunder -7.5 (-110), Under 196 (-110), -340 (Moneyline)
