The Oklahoma City Thunder took a 142-126 beating by the lowly Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday. They're 6-0 ATS in their last six games after scoring more than 125 points in their previous game and I like the Thunder to bounce back with a solid outing against the LA Lakers here on Thursday.

The Lakers will be without LeBron James for a 12th consecutive game and had been held to 95 points in back-to-back losses to Utah and Cleveland before ending the skid with a 107-100 triumph over Chicago last time out. They're 2-7-1 ATS in their last 10 games following a straight up win and have played six straight unders. "Unfortunately as of late, we haven't been scoring, but our defense has been pretty steady for the most part," Ball said. "And that's what we try to lean on."

I think the visitors will struggle to put points on the board against an OKC team that knows it has to do better than it has in recent contest. "These are the games that we've got to be ready for -- the ones where we're supposed to come in and roll them over. Those are the teams that we've got to come out and match the energy they give us." Oklahoma City's Paul George said after the loss to the Hawks.

The Home team is 16-5 ATS in the last 21 meetings and under is 6-0 in the last six meetings in Oklahoma City. I expect OKC to win and cover the spread in a relatively low-scoring game.

8* play on UNDER.