NBA Power Rankings: OKC Thunder and peers jockey for position
Week 23 pundit rankings are based on the OKC Thunder games played versus the Grizzlies,76ers and on the road to the Nuggets and Spurs. The National pundits and top bloggers rank the OKC Thunder as high as 11th and as low as 14th.
NBA.com – John Schuhmann:
The week after Schuhmann hit the OKC Thunder hard he credits the team rebounding with a solid showing in Toronto. A portion of the except is below in which Schuhmann raises OKC from 13th the week prior up to two spots to 11th. The remainder of his full opinion on the Thunder and his full list can be found here.
"One game is just one game. But it was important for the Thunder and Dennis Schroder to break out of their offensive slump in a win in Toronto on Friday. Schroder had 26 points (and was a plus-17 in the seven-point win) and the team drained 20 3-pointers (their second-highest total of the season) in what was their most efficient game (116 points on 98 possessions) since the first game after the All-Star break. They still have the league’s 29th-ranked offense (105.4 points scored per 100 possessions) since the break, ranking in the bottom six in post-break field goal percentage (30th), post-break 3-point percentage (25th), and post-break free throw percentage (28th)."
ESPN – Panel
In week 22 the panel drops the OKC Thunder from tenth to 11th position. Click this link for the full panel rankings.
ESPN’s panel:
ESPN: Kevin Arnovitz | Tim MacMahon |Andre’ Snellings
The Undefeated: Marc J. Spears | FiveThirtyEight: Chris Herring
"The Thunder’s week bottomed out when they fell to the eighth seed in the West after a home loss to the Raptors, but they bounced back with a win in Toronto and currently sit six inside the West’s 5-8 logjam. The Thunder play in Memphis on Monday, then have a five-game homestand that they need to dominate to secure more advantageous seeding. News of the week: Paul George showed signs that he’s finding his shot, shooting 49 percent from the field in three games after having shot 36.2 percent in his previous seven outings. — Snellings"
Bleacher Report:
Grant Hughes nails the OKC Thunder this week dropping them from 10th to 14th. Remembering Grant Hughes is always a few games behind his counterparts this ranking doesn’t include wins achieved at the end of the week.
His full rankings can be viewed by clicking this link.
"The Thunder have dropped four consecutive games and are an alarming 4-10 over the last calendar month. Their defense, once elite, ranks squarely in the middle of the pack since Jan. 1, and their offensive efficiency hovers right around that same range on the year. A difficult schedule explains some of the collapse: Just three of OKC’s last 14 opponents are lottery-bound. But it’s still difficult to peg these guys as a serious threat in the West any longer, and considering their remaining slate is tougher than that of any other playoff team in the conference, the Thunder are probably the sensible pick to finish with the No. 8 seed."
Sports Illustrated – The Crossover
This week Sports Illustrated writer Khadrice Rollins examines teams from the perspective of why every team should be excited at this point in the season. Rollins drops the OKC Thunder one spot from 11th to 12th. To view his full ranking click here.
"Healthy Russ While his free-throw shooting hasn’t improved as much as people would like, the rest of Russell Westbrook’s game has continued to get better throughout the season as he got his legs under him. We tend to forget and or downplay the impact things like knee surgeries and missing the preseason can have on a player. So as the team slides down the standings, it can at least have hope that Westbrook will look more like an MVP during the postseason and less like a dude who had a 38.6%-26%-60.6% shooting split (field-goal percentage—three-point percentage—free-throw percentage) in December."
Hoops Habit:
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This week writer Gerald Bourguet drops the OKC Thunder to 12th. For the rest of his rankings click here.
"With Paul George still working through a sore shoulder and the shooting of Dennis Schroder and Terrance Ferguson also dropping off, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s offense has gone ice-cold. They’ve lost nine of their last 13 games, and with the second-hardest remaining schedule in the West, they could continue to plummet down the standings. It’d be a pity to see everything unravel at the last second after such a promising season, but OKC is now in legitimate danger of falling to the 8-seed, where they’d faced either the mighty Warriors or a Nuggets team they’re 0-3 against this year in the opening round."
CBS Sports:
The theme for CBS Sports writer Reid Forgrave this week is temperature based as he compares how “hot” each team is from a weather perspective heading into the postseason. He also drops the OKC Thunder from his previous rank of ninth last week to 11th. Click here to see Forgrave’s full power rankings list.
"Temperature: A chilly spring breeze whipping across the prairie — like, you know things could warm up soon, but there’s still some winter in the air. The Thunder are in a precarious situation — in a virtual tie with the Jazz and Spurs for that six-seed, and slipping fast. Paul George’s big-time game to beat the Kyle Lowry-less Toronto Raptors on Friday night means a lot for the Thunder’s future. A hot hand from George means this Thunder team could be dangerous in the playoffs."
Next week:
The next power rankings in week 24 will feature the results from the OKC Thunder four game week with a road game in Memphis and then three home games versus the Pacers, Nuggets, and Mavericks.
Ranking every bench unit in Thunder history. dark. Next
That wraps up week 23 power rankings from myself and the National pundits. Hope you’ve enjoyed your week.