The Thunder went 1-3 to start off the New Year and as a result slipped in the power rankings this week.
It was a rough week for the Thunder who saw their hopes of moving into the top 5 in some of the power rankings take a huge hit. They started off the week losing to Milwaukee despite jumping out to an early lead after a hot start. Followed it up by getting dominated in the 4th by Charlotte to lose by 11 and then the next night lost a close game in Houston.
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The Thunder were able to salvage the week against Denver at home Saturday behind a barrage of Russell Westbrook three’s. With that in mind, here’s how the national pundits ranked the OKC Thunder:
NBA.com – John Schuhmann
The Thunder move down four spots in Schuhmann’s power rankings dropping to number 10.
"The Thunder improved to 14-3 in Russell Westbrook’s triple-double games with Saturday’s win over Denver, but they’ve lost four straight on the road, getting outscored by 35 points per 100 possessions with Westbrook off the floor in the four games. Only the Wizards, Sixers and Lakers have a worse bench NetRtg on the road than the Thunder, who have a lot more road games to come this month. Maybe the return of Cameron Payne, who made his season debut on Saturday, can help the second unit. After shooting 7-for-35 from 3-point range over his previous six games, Westbrook is 15-for-27 over the last two, but he’s 3-for-17 on clutch shots this month after missing a contested three for the win in Houston on Thursday."
Sports Illustrated – Jeremy Woo
Jeremy Woo also dropped the Thunder in his power rankings, dropping them three spots to number nine.
"Going to jump on the Millsap-to-Thunder wishful thinking train. If OKC thinks they can get him to stay, his versatility on both ends would make him an incredible compliment to Westbrook. Let the man shine."
ESPN – Marc Stein
Marc Stein drops the Thunder four spots in his power rankings all the way down to number 12.
"Didn’t take long for the well-chronicled concerns about the Thunder’s January schedule to prove justified. They began the new year with three frustrating road losses and will end up traveling more than 12,000 miles by month’s end; road dates still loom against the Clippers (Jan. 16), Warriors (Jan. 18), Jazz (Jan. 23), Cavs (Jan. 29) and Spurs (Jan. 31). Here are some more numbers, meanwhile, that aren’t going in Russell Westbrook’s favor: He’s now 0-for-6 on potential go-ahead shots from 3-point range in the final 10 seconds of the fourth quarter and overtime after that two-point loss in Houston in his latest duel with James Harden."
CBS Sports – Matt Moore
Matt Moore of CBS goes the easiest on the Thunder this week in his power rankings only dropping them two spots to number 10.
"The Thunder are in struggle mode right now. The loss to the Rockets was a heartbreaker, and falling to the Hornets was just rough. They have an easier stretch this week (Bulls, Grizzlies, Wolves, Kings) before things get brutal the rest of the month. They need to fatten up on mid-tier teams now."
The Thunder have another difficult week ahead of them as they try and survive an impossible January schedule. They start off the week at Chicago on Monday followed by, home against Memphis Wednesday, at Minnesota Friday and at Sacramento Sunday. Check back next week to see how they did.
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