Where National NBA pundits rank OKC Thunder in week 10

Discover where the top sites and experts rank the OKC Thunder in week ten of the NBA Power Rankings.

As the holidays arrived so too did week ten of the 2019-20 NBA season. National pundits and bloggers are all jumping on board the OKC Thunder bandwagon given their awesome performance of late which results in most writers raising the Thunder up the ranking ladder.

Here’s how the top-ranked National sites and blogs rank the OKC Thunder in week ten:

NBA.com – John Schuhmann:

Through ten weeks NBA stat man John Schuhmann hasn’t varied much in terms of his impression of the OKC Thunder. That is to say he’s always recognized they were a better team than most of his counterparts.

That makes his choice to drop them a spot in week 10 a little confusing but it’s more likely the performance of others above OKC which warrants the one spot drop from 12th to 13th this week. Given the clubs continued winning don’t be surprised if Schuhmann raising them up a rung or two next week.

"The Thunder continue to take games down to the wire. They lead the league with 24 games having been within five points in the last five minutes, and they’ve won the last five of those, with their three guards – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chris Paul and Dennis Schroder – combining to shoot 24-for-37 (65%) on clutch shots over that stretch. Paul leads the league with 84 total points scored in the clutch and Gilgeous-Alexander got his first career bucket to tie or take the lead in the final minute on Sunday, hitting a runner off the glass to beat Toronto on Sunday."

The rest of the above excerpt and Schuhmann’s full NBA power rankings can be viewed in its entirety by clicking this link.

ESPN – Panel

ESPN’s panel:

ESPN: Tim MacMahon |Andre’ Snellings | Royce Young | Bobby Marks

The Undefeated: Marc J. Spears

Unlike the NBA guru Schuhmann the panel hasn’t always been as enamored with the Thunder but perhaps that’s a testament to several analysts having a say which means one might rank them very low while another ranks them much higher and when you split the difference it positions them in the middle of the pack. In fairness, that’s about where they lie even with their dominant December.

Still, this week the panel raises the OKC Thunder one spot from 14th to 13th.

As per usual Royce Young provides the notes for the team citing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s impressive run and refers to Chris Paul as having a “vintage look” (read: he’s beasting!). Click this link for the full panel rankings.

"That’s six wins out of seven for OKC, capped with an extremely impressive road win in Toronto without Danilo Gallinari and Dennis Schroder (the Raptors were missing Pascal Siakam, though). Chris Paul has a vintage look to him, orchestrating in crunch time, hitting big shots and leading a young, developing roster. Along with it, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is blossoming; he set a career high (32 points) a week ago and has matched it twice since. In his past six games, he is averaging 27.3 points on 53% shooting. — Young"

Bleacher Report:

Grant Hughes’ focus for week ten noted the loss of Danilo Gallinari and how his absence affected the Thunder offense.

Hughes also notes how the club battles and wins against all odds as per the excerpt below, taken from the bigger passage.

The writer holds the Thunder steady in 13th after moving them up one spot last week.

The following is a section of his excerpt on the Thunder and his full comments and rankings can be found via this link.

"OKC deserves praise for surviving a mess of a game against the Hornets on Friday, escaping with a 104-102 overtime win behind stellar bench play and a closing lineup featuring four guards around Steven Adams. The Thunder shot 5-of-31 from deep and only made 19 of their 31 free-throw attempts, yet they somehow escaped.With a 10-4 record in December, the Thunder have quietly played like a postseason team over the past month."

Sports Illustrated – The Crossover

After missing a week Sports Illustrated (The Crossover) scribe Michael Shapiro returns to offer his week 10 power rankings and raises the team from a previous low of 19th in week eight up to 13th.

Interesting input from Shapiro cites Dennis Schroder’s incredible performance in December but then suggests the Thunder should trade him. Perhaps he knows something we don’t but with Schroder finally playing with consistency, hitting efficiently and playing his role to perfection it seems the same reasons Shapiro offers for trading him might also be the same reasons why Sam Presti should keep him at least another year.

Click this link for Shapiro’s full ranking list.

"Dennis Schroder’s December will go down as perhaps the best month of the 26-year-old’s career. Oklahoma City’s guard is averaging 22.5 points per game this month while making 41.1% of threes, handling backup point guard duties with aplomb behind Chris Paul. Schroder earns just $15 million next season, and his contract expires before the reloaded free-agent class of 2021. Schroder could provide a backcourt boost for a Finals contender."

Hoops Habit:

Week ten of the NBA Power Rankings finds Hoops Habit editor, Phil Watson moving the Thunder up a single spot from 14th to 13th. Of note, Watson’s weekly ranking runs Sunday to Saturday as opposed to Monday to Sunday so the final games of each week appear the following week.

That variance surfaces this week as Watson notes SGA’s output and prowess in the big win over his former Clippers team.

The following is the segment of his posting on the Thunder. For the with the rest of his comments and ranking list click this link.

"OKC still had to survive a pair of free throws with 1.9 seconds left after Gilgeous-Alexander fouled Charlotte’s PJ Washington. It was still a tremendous week for SGA, who averaged 26.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.3 steals in 35.9 minutes per game, hitting 49.2 percent overall and going 4-for-10 from 3-point range. He had 32 points in the win over his former Clippers team."

CBS Sports:

Colin Ward-Henninger of CBS Sports power rankings has consistently kept the OKC Thunder in the middle tier the entirety of the season. He holds true to this ranking by keeping the team on the 13th rung for a second consecutive week. Ward-Henniger’s full power ranking can be viewed via this link.

"OKC suffered an unexpected home loss to the Grizzlies coming off a win over the Clippers, but bounced back with an impressive one-point win in Toronto. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continued his phenomenal play, tying a career-high with 32 points to go alond with seven rebounds in his native Toronto. The Thunder continue to look like a playoff team in the West."

Thunderous Intentions:

More from Thunderous Intentions

Not surprisingly yours truly positioned the Thunder at the highest position. Hey, I’m biased – I’ll own it. That said, posting the second-highest record (tied with Miami) in the Association just below the Bucks needs to be recognized and since my rankings afford current performance as well as seasonal performance the OKC Thunder end up in my top ten, ranking ninth in this week’s ranking.

"While everyone focuses on the teams in Los Angeles, Harden’s Rockets and the sudden improvements of the Jazz and Nuggets everyone is sleeping on the Thunder.Are they title contenders? No — but in the same token consider what they’ve accomplished this season. Their record isn’t indicative of an easy schedule, rather they’ve had one of the most difficult strength of schedule.More importantly, they aren’t just winning in the clutch they are DOMINATING."

For the rest of the post on the OKC Thunder and the remainder of my rankings click this link or the blue box below.

That wraps up week ten of the National writers’ and analyst power rankings with every single pundit (except yours truly) ranking the team 13th while I ranked them ninth.

Next. NBA Power Rankings week 10: Thunder vault up ladder. dark

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