OKC Thunder week 5 power rankings – Continued progress and TI’s top 10

Golden State Warriors:

I said it last week and I’ll reiterate it again for week five — the Warriors are at their best when Stephen Curry is leading them.

If you want a longer winded perspective see my key takeaways from the Thunder victory over the dubs. Put simply – the Warriors function easily with Curry, but when Durant is left to his wiles his leadership makes Golden State look like they are doing something we’ve seldom witnessed during the Kerr era — WORK.

With news Curry is likely to return shortly, expect GSW to overtake the top West seed again. The big question is given how sensitive Durant is – once Curry returns and the team rediscovers their symphonic offensive ease and high end defense will the fan base discuss his worth. Moreover, will pundits tap Curry as MVP given how much the team struggled with him sidelined? And, more than the apparent issues and resentment Draymond Green and potentially others are feeling over having to cater to Durant will that acknowledgment play a factor in the KD summer decision?

Durant has always known the Warriors were Steph’s team, but Curry stepped aside so he could be in the spotlight. Will KD be willing to do the same? My gut says NOPE.

Then again I’m slightly biased given Westbrook was painted with a brush I don’t believe encompassed the full palette of paints.

Factors:

Offensive Rating: 2nd
Defensive Rating: 18th
Net Differential: 5th
Offensive field goal efficiency: 49.5 percent (1st)
Opponent field goal efficiency:  44.7 percent (8th)
Win/Loss 1-4: The rare five game week resulted in the worst week of the Warriors winning era. Losses to the Clippers, Rockets, Mavericks and Spurs with only a single win versus the Hawks and even that wasn’t a gimme.
Record: 12-6
Injuries: Steph out the entire week while Draymond.only played versus the Clippers and Rockets.