There has been a time change for Friday’s Orlando Magic-New Orleans Hornets contest to accommodate an ESPN doubleheader. The Magic find themselves as 4.5-point road favorites as they look to win and cover a third straight game. They beat the Hornets earlier this month by six points, but were unable to cover the nine-point spread.

Orlando has gone 29-13 ATS in non-conference road games over the last three seasons, but did not fare well in their lone venture to the Big Easy last year, falling by 32 points as 1.5-point underdogs. Overall, the teams have split the last eight meetings.

On February 3rd, it was Vince Carter leading the way for the Magic, scoring 48 points on 19 of 27 shooting, including six three-pointers. Dwight Howard added 25 points and 12 rebounds, which continued a stretch that has now reached 19 straight games where the All Star Center has recorded a double double, a franchise record. The team has gone 13-6 SU during that stretch.

Howard was magnificent Wednesday night in Houston, scoring 30 points – on 11 of 11 shooting – and grabbing 16 rebounds. Orlando won the game 110-92 as four-point road favorites.

New Orleans is off a 20-point loss at Milwaukee, which was their second consecutive double-digit defeat. The previous night they lost in Cleveland by 10, although they did cover that game. Conventional wisdom has the Hornets likely to fall off the pace in the Western Conference playoff chase with PG Chris Paul sidelined for an extended period of time.

Note, however, that before losing two straight, the team did win three of its previous four, all at home, and the Hornets are in the midst of a profitable stretch, going 6-2 ATS their last eight games.

With Paul out of the lineup, a pair of rookies has been carrying the Hornets. Darren Collison has averaged 23.5 points and 8.9 assists over the past eight games while fellow rookie Marcus Thornton set a franchise record for points in a quarter with 23 and finished with a career-high 37 in the loss to Cleveland on Tuesday, and followed with 25 against Milwaukee.

The 2009-10 NBA betting season is here, and if you like winning NBA Basketball Picks, then Vegas Experts is your home for Sports Betting. The Vegas Experts have you covered with, free betting trends, free NBA picks, free College basketball picks and Guaranteed Sports Picks all the way up until the 2010 NBA Finals.