OKC Thunder leap up ladder of week 4 national power rankings

After a month of NBA action, teams are beginning to carve out specific identities and claim which tie of the seeding ladder they belong on. Similar to last season the OKC Thunder have defied the odds by winning more than was expected.

That led to a four-game win streak that ended last week against former Thunder cornerstone Kevin Durant and his Brooklyn Nets.

OKC Thunder remain status quo in week 4 national power rankings

Earlier in the week Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort, Josh Giddey, and the young Thunder won games against the Pelicans and Kings.

This week they’ll face the Miami Heat and Houston Rockets at home prior to heading out for a mini three-game Eastern road trip that runs through Milwaukee, Boston, and, Atlanta with the first two occurring this weekend in a back-to-back set.

With the Thunder overperforming expectations it’s led to many national writers moving them up ahead of teams who were projected to be in the play-in tournament mix.

OKC ranked as high as 20th and as low as 26th with the common placement being 23rd in week four power ranking liss.

Writers based the rankings on two wins and a loss with plenty of commentary on the current Big 3 trio of SGA, Dort, and Giddey. With that, let’s check out where the OKC Thunder placed on the week four national power rankings.

NBA.com – John Schuhmann:

Two of the teams who the Thunder beat finished beneath them on John Schuhmann’s power rankings for week four.

Schuhmann noted the improved defense and touched on the brilliance of Luguentz Dort specifically citing the steal made off De’Aaron Fox that led to the Thunder beating the Kings.

The stats master moves the OKC Thunder up from 27th to 23rd in his ratings. For the entire Thunder excerpt and to review his full ranking list for week four click here.

"The Thunder were pretty competitive for the first three months of last season, going 19-24 with the league’s 11th-ranked defense. But that group never won more than three straight games. This season’s Thunder went one better, and not surprisingly, it was defense that fueled their four-game winning streak. The Thunder allowed their opponents to barely crack a point per possession and shoot just 52% in the restricted area over the four games, which were all within five points in the last five minutes. The biggest stop of the streak, of course, was Lu Dort’s clean strip of De’Aaron Fox, leading to the game-winning layup on Friday."

ESPN Poll:

The panel jumps the OKC Thunder up three spots from 26th to 23rd in week five noting the winning streak and specifically citing Lu Dort’s performance.

The full panel rating can be viewed here.

"Lu Dort, who has earned a reputation as one of the league’s best perimeter defenders, has shown significant improvement as a driver and finisher this season. He’s shooting 61.5% inside 5 feet this season, according to NBA.com stats, an upgrade from 49.8% in the previous two seasons. Dort averaged 19.8 points during the Thunder’s four-game winning streak, which was snapped Sunday by the Nets. — MacMahon"

CBS Sports:

Another of the power rankings that use a different timetable is CBS and writer Collin Ward-Henniger. It makes it impossible to compare to the other sites but hey he also gave the OKC Thunder their highest ranking of 20th moving them up from 29th a week ago so we aren’t complaining.

To view Ward-Henniger’s full CBS power rankings for his week four click here.

"Well, here we go again. Despite a roster clearly catered toward a high lottery pick, the Thunder rattled off wins over the Lakers, Spurs and Pelicans this week to inch closer to .500, just like they surprisingly did last season before the tankathon truly began toward the end of the year. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made perhaps the signature shot of his young career with a dagger 3-pointer from the logo to secure their second straight win over the Lakers, and he averaged 22 points, 6.7 assists and six rebounds for the week. Lu Dort provided a nice boost after missing last week’s loss to the Clippers, averaging 19 points in three wins this week."

Sporting News:

Added last week the Sporting News power rankings are provided by a panel of writers with Kyle Irving (yes the similar name to the superstar is coincidental) who provides the Thunder excerpt for week four.

He places the OKC Thunder 26th moving them up only one spot from the week prior. The offering from Sporting News highlights each team’s biggest concern which for the Thunder is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s All-Star campaign.

An interesting side note of this article is Irving included a video of the Dort steal in the Kings’ segment but inexplicably ranked them ahead of the Thunder in spite of their 0-3 week.

Irving’s full comments on the Thunder and full rankings can be viewed here.

"The 23-year-old has been fantastic so far, averaging 22.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. While his scoring, assists and shooting efficiency are down in the slightest from last year, he still has plenty of opportunities to raise those averages to All-Star caliber numbers. It may be hard to receive consideration for a spot if the Thunder are toward the bottom of the West, but don’t count out a possible All-Star bid for Gilgeous-Alexander if he can ramp up his production."

Hoops Habit:

As a reminder, the Hoops Habit power rankings run on a different schedule than the NBA or ESPN lists. The week four Hoops Habit power rankings are offered by Jack Simone and given the different schedule, he is looking at the Thunder completing a perfect 3-0 week.

They jump up the HH ladder from 26th to 22nd in week four. To view the excerpt in its entirety and Simone’s power ranking list click here.

"Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort have led the way as of late. Both are putting up around 20 points per game on this recent winning streak.In addition, the Thunder have had players such as Darius Bazley, Mike Muscala, Tre Mann, and Josh Giddey all chipping in solid contributions. They’ve been flying under the radar as a team, but their defense has been great."

That wraps up the week four national site power rankings list.