T.M. Selection: Suns/Thunder UNDER.

I am on the under in the Phoenix Suns vs Oklahoma City Thunder game on Thursday. This is going to be the 1st game back for both of these teams from the All Star break and it has pretty much been about a week since either team played together. I think both teams are going to have a slow start here due to that long layoff and I think it will take some time for both teams to get hot with their shooting again. I think a slow start in this game will set the tone nicely for an under and I also expect there to be a lot more defense in this game than these teams normally play. The Suns are going to be missing Chris Paul in this game and without that contribution to their offense, I expect the Suns to play better on defense and try to make the Thunder miss more shots. The Thunder are getting back their star player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in this game and that is going to add some kick to their rotation. He is their best player and is very dangerous with the ball when he has it in his hands so I expect the Suns to also play more defensively to counter him and try to stop the Thunder more since their offense will be a lot better here. This is also a road game for the Suns and without the crowd on their side here, I think it is even more important for them to bring a great defensive effort in this game since the Thunder will be fired up from having their star back. Just because he is back though, doesn't make the Thunder a good team and since he has been out for so long I think it will take a bit of time for the Thunder to get back into a groove with him on the court. I think this game is going to be played at a slower pace and I think both teams will give a better defensive effort than usual. I like the under in this game.

T.M. Prediction: 99-90 Suns.