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The Los Angeles Lakers travel to the Midwest on Thursday evening to take on the Oklahoma City Thunder in a meeting between two teams currently in the midst of some of their biggest struggles of the season.
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The Lakers will be without LeBron James again who will miss his 12th consecutive game after injuring his groin on Christmas Day. The Thunder have gone 5-7 since December including five losses to teams currently out of the playoff picture. Despite their recent struggles, Oklahoma City comes into this one laying -10.5 points to the visiting Lebron-less Lakers.
Lakers Without Star
Without Lebron James, the Lakers have found their most success by playing tough on the defensive end. They cannot simply go out and outscore their opponents, so they have brought a high level of energy on the defensive end. That trend will have to continue on Thursday night as the Lakers will also be without point guard Rajon Rondo who will sit due to a finger injury that required surgery. Without the two veterans the Lakers will turn to their youngsters, many of whom are still looking to find their groove in the NBA. Kyle Kuzma will lead the way for the Lakers and he is quietly putting together a solid season behind LeBron, averaging 19 points and 6 rebounds a game. However, the Lakers could see their playoff hopes dashed if Kuzma is their go-to guy for an extended period of time.
Thunder Looking to Right the Ship
The Oklahoma City Thunder have lost four of their last five games and the main culprit of this stretch has been the complete inability to guard anyone. On Tuesday night, the Thunder game up 142 points in a road loss to the 14-30 Atlanta Hawks. Just three games prior, Oklahoma City gave up 154 on the road against San Antonio. Overall during their current 5-7 stretch, the Thunder are giving up 116 points per game, over 10 points more than they were previously allowing. One thing is certain about the Thunder and that is they have the ability to score with anyone. The dynamic duo of Paul George and Russell Westbrook are currently accounting for nearly 50 points per game between the two of them. The Lakers are a team that could have trouble scoring without James and Rondo so it will be important for the Thunder to right the ship on the defensive end and they have a tremendous opportunity to do so against the offensively challenged Lakers.
Pick and Prediction
Oklahoma City is a tough team to bet because they have the ability to beat anyone on any given night but also have the ability to give up 142 points to the hapless Hawks as well. The Thunder are well coached and have a nice veteran core, so I expect them to turn it around soon and I am confident that will be on Thursday night. Take the Thunder laying the points. Thunder roll in this one by nearly 20 points.
