Week 12 of NBA power rankings lists find scribes in general agreement ranking the team as high as 8th and low as 12th.
At the halfway mark pundits are closely aligned in terms of where they rank the OKC Thunder. This isn’t unusual as history shows most teams who are already seeded will be the teams playing past April.
Thunder opponents for this week featured the Lakers, Clippers and Suns. In the three games OKC pounded both LA squads, but inexplicably lost to Phoenix. Although the Suns boast the impressively talented Devin Booker the loss to the Desert squad was disconcerting.
Pundits opinions naturally aligning:
Week 12 of power ranking lists encompassed games played by the OKC Thunder from January 3rd through 7th. The exception is the Bleacher Report who submits their power ranking prior to weekend play.
It would be rare for more than two or three currently unseeded teams to climb up the ladder. That said, movement by teams on the playoff leader will definitely occur. Perhaps part of the reason pundits have tended to have a wider variance for the OKC Thunder is the squad has yet to find balance on both sides of the court simultaneously.
For the past few weeks pundit rankings reflected a clear top group and bottom group. In spite of the scribes belief these teams were cemented unusual occurrences may upset the apple cart.
East may be due for a shakeup:
Boston have rediscovered their stellar defense, however 11 opposite coast games remain. The other questions the Celtics will need to answer is whether Jayson Tatum will hit a rookie wall or any of the other myriad of youngsters on the squad.
LeBron James may only need flip his proverbial switch, but this scribe doesn’t believe it will be that simple. Of the Cavaliers 40 remaining games eight are on the opposite coast, 24 are playoff squads and 5 others are flirting with the bottom seeded rungs. All told 32 of Cleveland’s 40 remaining games will be a challenge.
Not to jump too far ahead, but Toronto has completed 13 of 14 western road games and play their final one this coming week (Minnesota – January 20th). Factor in a 34 point victory over Cleveland without the services of Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka. Or erasing the Warriors 27 point lead (again without Lowry), only to lose because of an illegal call. Arguably the biggest adversity the Raptors will face in the second half are the officials. To wit, four of Toronto’s 12 losses have been tied to a bad whistle or missed call attached.
Although the Bucks and Sixers get the spotlight the two teams to keep an eye on in the East are the Miami Heat and Washington Wizards.
Injuries offer greatest adversity for West:
Golden State has suffered their fair share of injuries this season, but never two of their super stars at the same time for an extended period. They look unbeatable and will likely use the second half trying to get as much rest as possible.
Jame Harden will be out for an extended period and at the same time Houston’s defense has regressed. So far the Chris Paul led Rockets appear to be weathering the storm.
One should never question the mastery of Popovich of the Spurs system, but I for one am impressed. Can you imagine where Cleveland would be without the King for all but eight games
Minnesota seem destined to dust off their postseason threads and with Jimmy Butler at the helm may well do so with a home court seed.
If OKC can discover how to marry their defense with the emerging offense they could make a deep run
The other West squads seemingly in the mix are the Blazers, Nuggets, Pelicans and Clippers.
With that, let’s take a look at each of the lists and where the OKC Thunder were placed on each.
NBA.com – John Schuhmann
John Schuhmann holds the OKC Thunder steady at 10th.. Not surprisingly the master of stats points to the true nature of Andre Roberson’s loss and affect of same on the OKC Thunder.
"The last four games without Andre Roberson (left patellar tendinitis) have been the Thunder’s worst four-game defensive stretch of the season (112 points allowed per 100 possessions), even though the four opponents rank 11th, 16th, 27th and 28th in offensive efficiency. Terrance Ferguson had some highlights in L.A. on Wednesday, the OKC stars have continued to shoot well, and Paul George and Russell Westbrook rank first and third in deflections per game. But the overall defense hasn’t been there without Roberson. The Thunder’s regular starting lineup has allowed just 96.3 points per 100 possessions in its 440 minutes together, but in 265 minutes with somebody else in Roberson’s place, OKC has allowed 118."
ESPN – Panel
The panel have held steady with their favorites the majority of the season with the Rockets and Cavaliers receiving benefit of doubt rankings. This week they afford he OKC Thunder the nod by holding them in 8th.
Very interested to see how they will rank Houston, Cleveland and Oklahoma City this coming week in particular
ESPN’s panel:
ESPN: Kevin Arnovitz | Amin Elhassan |Ramona Shelburne
The Undefeated: Marc J. Spears | FiveThirtyEight: Chris Herring
"Carmelo Anthony, Paul George and Russell Westbrook have combined to score at least 80 points in three of their past five games. They have combined to score 80 points more often than any other trio in the NBA since Christmas. — Jose De Leon"
Sports Illustrated – The Crossover:
At least Kenny Ducey doesn’t mix words on his reasons for sticking to his seesaw habit of up-down-up-down ranking for the OKC Thunder. Ducey was on schedule to drop OKC, but it’s hard to debate his reasoning this week as he drops them from 9th to12th.
"Man, you’re out of your mind if you think I’m moving this team up after they lost to the Suns. Dragan Bender dropped 20. Jared Dudley even played six minutes. Smh."
CBS Sports:
Chris Barnewell is one of the few scribes who reminds this team is still a work in progress. As such he only drops them one spot from 8th to 10th.
"The Thunder are 12-9 against teams under .500, which feels way too low for this kind of talent. On the other hand, they’ve only recently pulled their offense together. It’s frustrating to see OKC take steps back, but these things really do take time."
Bleacher Report:
The odd part of Grant Hughes rankings is he is always a few games off all the other scribes. This is due to Hughes power ranking list posting on Friday instead of Monday. So, on week’s like this one he’s unaware of the weekend malaise which felled the Thunder. Therefore, Hughes rankings often seem overly optimistic and oddly out of sync. With the Thunder missing Roberson though he falls uncharacteristically in sync with the other scribes dropping them two spots to 8th.
"Meanwhile, the Thunder are coming off a rough week marred by a controversial loss to the Bucks (Giannis stepped out) and some banked-in heroics from Dallas’ Dennis Smith Jr. Both games could have gone in OKC’s favor rather easily. So no major demerits for either defeat.Bigger picture: The Thunder have to figure out the shooting guard spot. Alex Abrines saps their defensive potency, Andre Roberson gets ignored by smart postseason opponents and Terrance Ferguson has to do more than clown the Lakers with a career-high 24 points before anyone buys him as the answer."
Week 13 of power ranking lists will encompass games played versus two Northwest Division rivals, the (Portland Trail Blazers and Minnesota Timberwolves as well as the Charlotte Hornets.