Tip-off: Thursday, 10:35 p.m. ET
Line: Cleveland -6, Total: 206

With LeBron James back in the lineup, the Cavaliers look to break a nasty six-game losing skid when they visit the Lakers on Thursday night.

Cleveland has not lived up to its lofty expectations all season long, but has really hit a wall of late with SU and ATS losses in nine of the past 10 games, including six straight defeats. During the losing skid, the Cavaliers have failed to top 100 points or 44% FG, and have been outscored by an average of 13.1 PPG. Their defense has looked horrible as well during the six games, allowing 105.2 PPG on 50.1% FG. After missing two weeks because of injuries to his knee and back, SF LeBron James returned to the court on Tuesday, but his team committed 19 turnovers and fell 107-100 at 4.5-point favorite Phoenix, which made a blistering 53% FG. Meanwhile, Los Angeles continues to have a dreadful season with losses in four of its past five games SU (2-2-1 ATS) while averaging a putrid 90.6 PPG in that timeframe. In two of those contests, the Lakers made 42% or fewer of their field-goal attempts as a team and really fell apart against Miami on Tuesday night when they absorbed a 78-75 loss as 3-point underdogs and made a meager 29-of-92 shots (31.5% FG). Cleveland’s road performance thus far has been less than stellar, as it is only 8-11 SU (6-13 ATS), but will be facing an L.A. group that is a poor 6-14 SU (9-8-1 ATS) at Staples Center. These clubs split their two games against each other last season, with the road team winning each time, and the Lakers going 2-0 ATS. They were high-scoring affairs with the average total being 232.5 PPG, while Los Angeles scored 70 points in just the first half last time they met on Feb. 5, 2014, a game that ended with the Lakers winning 119-108 as 7-point road underdogs. Trends show that the Cavaliers are 14-2 ATS (88%) after playing four consecutive games as an underdog over the past two seasons, but they are also a subpar 11-26 ATS (30%) when coming off a road loss in the same timeframe. Both teams have dealt with plenty of injuries this season, as Cleveland remains without C Anderson Varejao (Achilles) and SG Iman Shumpert (shoulder), but both SG Kobe Bryant (rest) and C Jordan Hill (knee) are listed as questionable for Los Angeles.

Can Cleveland finally pick up a victory on Thursday night? For the answer, connect to The Platinum Sheet for all the Expert picks throughout the entire 2014-15 season. StatFox Forecaster has a strong 55% ATS record (100-81-1) in featured games this season. In terms of Best Bets, the experts have a stellar 72% ATS (36-14) record since Jan. 2, led by StatFox Scott, who is a sizzling 76% ATS (13-4) in Best Bets since Dec. 21, improving his record to 56% ATS (32-25) for the season. StatFox Brian is 63% ATS (22-13) in Best Bets since Nov. 29, and is now 56% ATS (32-25) in season Best Bets, while StatFox Gary is 7-2 ATS in NBA Best Bets since Jan. 1, and 57% ATS (32-24) this season.

The Cavs have struggled on both sides of the ball this season, and offensively they are scoring 99.8 PPG (14th-worst in league) while making 44.8% of their shots (13th-worst in NBA). On the defensive end, they are letting their opponents net 100.1 PPG (12th-worst in league) on 47.1% shooting (2nd-worst in NBA). SF LeBron James (25.5 PPG, 7.5 APG, 5.3 RPG, 1.3 SPG) returned to the court Tuesday with a great performance against the Suns with 33 points plus seven rebounds and five assists, but also had five turnovers in the loss. James has feasted on the Lakers over his 22 career games, tallying 27.7 PPG (47% FG), 7.8 RPG, 6.9 APG and 1.8 SPG. PF Kevin Love (17.7 PPG, 10.4 RPG) is coming off a horrible game (9 points, 9 rebounds) on the heels of five straight double-doubles in which he averaged 23.4 PPG and 13.8 RPG. He’s now faced this L.A. team 17 times (14 starts) in his career, scoring 17.5 PPG (43% FG) to go along with 13.5 RPG. PG Kyrie Irving (20.7 PPG, 5.2 APG, 1.5 SPG) also had a horrible game in James' return with a meager nine points on 4-of-14 shooting while dishing out six assists and turning the ball over eight times. In five career starts against the Lakers, Irving has been able to produce 17.6 PPG (46% FG), 6.0 APG and 2.4 SPG.

The Lakers offense had looked pretty strong for most of the season, but their recent shooting woes have dropped them down to 16th in the league while scoring 100.7 PPG behind 43.5% FG (5th-worst in league). The defense for this club has been one of the worst in the NBA for a few years now and is giving up 106.8 PPG (2nd-worst in league) on 46.9% shooting (3rd-worst in NBA). SG Kobe Bryant (22.7 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 5.4 APG, 1.4 SPG) is expected to be shut down at some point this season, and he has made just 5-of-31 shots (16% FG) in his past two games. Over his long career, Bryant has put up some solid numbers (23.6 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 4.7 APG, 1.2 SPG) in 31 career games (28 starts) against the Cavs. PF Ed Davis (8.0 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 1.2 BPG) has been unable to lock down the power forward position this season but is coming off a solid game against Miami where he scored 12 points and grabbed eight boards. Davis doesn’t have much experience against Cleveland with just 10 meetings (4 starts), in which he has gone for 8.0 PPG (55% FG), 6.3 RPG and 1.0 BPG. PG Jeremy Lin (10.7 PPG, 4.5 APG, 1.0 SPG) was looking like he was on his way back to solid minutes, but has been on the court a mere 17.5 MPG over the past two contests. This is surprising, considering in the previous three games he averaged 14.7 PPG (48% FG), 3.7 APG and 1.7 SPG.