Chris Paul: Los Angeles Clippers PG Returns to New Orleans

Point guard Chris Paul will take on his former team on Thursday night when the Los Angeles Clippers (26-20) visit the New Orleans Hornets (11-35) inside the New Orleans Arena.

Los Angeles has dropped its first two games on a three-game road trip by double-digit margins, including a 114-91 defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder as nine-point underdogs last night.

Las Vegas oddsmakers have still sent out the Clippers as 4.5-point favorites despite failing to cover the spread in eight of their last 10 games overall.

The Clippers are 11-12 on the road, but are 2-0 against the spread when favored by 3.5 to 6 points away from the Staples Center this year.

Paul will need to up his recent performance in hopes of pulling out a victory in this Western Conference affair, as he's averaged just 15.4 points per game over his last seven contests.

The former fourth overall pick in the 2005 NBA draft is still managing to average 19.5 points and dish out 8.5 assists in 41 overall games.

New Orleans is also playing the second game of a back-to-back situation and will attempt to bounce back from a 101-92 setback to the Golden State Warriors as two-point home favorites.

The Hornets are a dismal 6-18 ATS at home this season, but have gone 23-22 ATS against the spread when playing on back-to-back days the last two-plus seasons.

It will be interesting to see if tonight's host can continue its dominance in this series without Paul in its lineup, as it has covered 20 of the last 26 meetings.

Pick: New Orleans Hornets +4.5