Nets can play Hornets tough

New Orleans, still in the race for the top seeding in the Western Conference, has what looks to be a breather tonight.

New Jersey, which is a playoff team in the East despite being nine games under .500, is the visitor this evening. The Nets have lost three in a row, including a 100-93 defeat at Memphis on Wednesday, a victory that enabled the Grizzlies to end a nine-game losing streak.

However, to those who believe a Hornets win is a foregone conclusion: not so fast.

Whether it be in New Orleans or Oklahoma City, the Nets have had the home team’s number in recent years.

New Jersey has won three in a row on the road against the Hornets, including a 112-108 win a season ago. Before that, the Nets had defeated the Hornets in successive years, 95-84 and 86-85.

Given the recent history of the two teams, don’t expect a lot of points tonight.

The Hornets have gone under in six of their last eight games while the Nets have been under in five of their last six.

College basketball

Valparaiso and Wright State, two teams who need to win the conference tournament to earn a spot in the NCAA bash, will get together tonight in Indianapolis.

The Crusaders and Raiders advanced to the second round of the Horizon League tournament with victories over Wisconsin Green Bay and Detroit, respectively, Tuesday.

The winner of tonight’s game at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis will advance to the conference semifinals to play second-seeded Cleveland State on Saturday. The final is two nights later and is likely to include regular-season league champion Butler, which has won 27 of 30.

This is the second time in less than a week Valparaiso and Wright State have met.

Valparaiso won, 75-73, in overtime five days ago, the fourth of five consecutive wins for the Crusaders.

The Raiders have been heading in the opposite direction. Before a 60-37 pasting of Detroit on Tuesday, they had lost three in a row.

Hockey

After a 6-3 loss to visiting Carolina on Wednesday, Atlanta’s losing streak has reached nine and things do not figure to get better for the Thrashers tonight.

Minnesota is in town and the Wild, the leader in the Northwest Division in the Western Conference, has owned Atlanta. The Thrashers are 0-5-1 against the Wild and have been outscored, 23-12. Minnesota is the only team in the NHL that Atlanta, which came into existence in 1999, one year before the Wild, has failed to defeat.

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