NBA Power Rankings: OKC Thunder and peers struggle to find consistency

Week 21 of the NBA power rankings finds teams struggling with consistency. Here’s how the OKC Thunder and all 30 teams rank.

Compiling the power ranking list this week was an adventure. Some of the top squads took hits losing to teams they shouldn’t and injuries took their toll on other squads. Factor in the young lottery teams who suddenly are performing after a season of malaise.

For example, the Suns took until January 8th to collect 10 victories, but suddenly are feasting with five wins in their last seven games. Diving deeper into this phenomenon is the teams the Suns beat weren’t just low hanging fruit. Rather, victories came against the top two conference teams (Warriors and Bucks) as well as squads fighting for their playoff berths (Magic and the Lakers).

In essence, the Suns ended the Lakers postseason!  This isn’t something most will focus on when the demise of the Lakers is discussed ad nauseam at season end. None-the-less this is an important rallying point for the Suns in terms of their future growth and reflections of who they can become.

And the Suns are just one of the young lottery squads stepping up recently. There is a simple and realistic explanation of why. Players on every club, particularly ones who’ve struggled are playing for contracts next season. Unlike playoff teams, they won’t have the extra run to show their potential so how they perform down the stretch can be the difference in landing a contract with their current team or another squad earmarking them to add this offseason.

The rankings represent games played in week 21 of action. Key stat category ranking and week 22 opponents are noted. Remaining schedules are dissected for insights on games already played (road vs. home and east vs. west performance) as well as the remaining strength of schedule and notably how many contests are against top offenses, defenses, and plus .500 clubs.

The closing slide provides excerpts and links to the national media power ranking lists. Notably, I’ve been a little under the weather recently so you’ll be getting three weeks of power rankings this week including weeks 21, 22 and 23.

Let’s do it!