NBA Power Rankings week 10: OKC Thunder vault up ladder

OKC Thunder Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dennis Schroder (Photo by Zach Beeker/NBAE via Getty Images)
OKC Thunder Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dennis Schroder (Photo by Zach Beeker/NBAE via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 31
Next
OKC Thunder
JANUARY 2: Head coach of the OKC Thunder Billy Donovan talks with his players before the start of their game against the San Antonio Spurs (Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images) /

NBA Power Rankings highlights for week 10 features holiday games, ladder shuffles all while the OKC Thunder continued winning vaults them up the ladder

With Christmas Day games in the rearview, the end of Week 10 brought teams to the precipice of the end of a decade with 2020 looming. Week 10 of the NBA Power Rankings finds plenty of shifts on the rungs not the least of which is the OKC Thunder vaulting up the ladder.

For the first time in a decade (and third ever), the Thunder didn’t play on Christmas Day while the teams that did served up some surprises.  The Raptors limped into their first home game of the holiday allowing the Celtics to take the match easily (although they did get payback later in the week).

The 76ers dismantled the Bucks easily and with a precision that reminded pundits why they were so keen to pick them as the Eastern Conference favorites — but the rest of the week spoke to the very real issues on the club.

With the injury and star depleted Warriors in the mix, it was expected James Harden and Russell Westbrook would gladly put on a show but the Dubs surprised everyone. Then the marquee matchup of the Staples Center squad delivered a similar result as opening night begging the question of whether the Lakers have enough depth to deal with their LA counterparts.

The night closed with the Pelicans surprising the Nuggets.

So, what did the results mean in the grand scheme of things? It was one game of 82 but there were hints to what the week would present and what is necessary to fix prior to the trade deadline.

For those who prefer to keep track on a week by week basis each is linked below:

And with that I give you my NBA Power Rankings for week ten of action: