Week 11 offered a strong showing from the OKC Thunder who recorded a 2-1 mark via an impressive baseball set sweeping the Blazers and losing a closely contested match to the Pelicans.
OKC begins week 12 with a 14-19 record and is right in the mix of the teams vying for a play-in seed. Statistically the Thunder return to the top 10 defensively while they slip one spot (24th) offensively and continue to push the pace as the third-fastest team in the league.
Where National sites seed OKC Thunder in week 11 power rankings
OKC Thunder power ranking – NBA.com:
John Schuhmann is known for his statistical insights and this week dives into some defensive numerical highlights on the team.
Schuhmann raised the Thunder two spots to 22nd. A portion of his OKC Thunder excerpt is below, to see the full OKC segment along with Schuhmann’s full week 11 rankings click here.
"Overall, the Thunder defense has been good, climbing into the top 10 by allowing just 109.0 points per 100 possessions over the first six games of their seven-game homestand. With minimal heft up front, rebounding has been an issue. But the Thunder have seen the league’s biggest jump in opponent turnover rate, from 13.2 per 100 possessions (22nd) last season to 16.3 (third) this season. And their second win over Portland last week came with 20 turnovers from the Blazers. Gilgeous-Alexander ranks eighth with 3.5 deflections per game."
ESPN Panel:
Every year ESPN comprises a panel of writers who offer up the excerpts on the teams and vote on where the teams rank weekly. The panel this season is comprised of Kendra Andrews, Tim Bontemps, Jamal Collier, Nick Friedell, Andrew Lopez, and Kevin Pelton.
In week 11 the panel ranked the OKC Thunder 22nd a jump of one position from the prior week.
"Shai Gilgeous-Alexander played in his 30th game of the season Friday night and put up a career-high 44 points, the most by any Thunder player since Paul George had 45 on Feb. 22, 2019. Through 30 games, Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 31.6 points per game. Only Russell Westbrook (31.8 in 2016-17) had more through 30 games in Thunder franchise history. The only other player close to that since the franchise’s move to Oklahoma City is Kevin Durant, who averaged 28.5 through his first 30 games of 2013-14. — Lopez"
For the full ESPN preseason listing, click here.
Bleacher Report
Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report serves up his rankings for week 11 with accolades for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as the centerpiece of his posts. Bailey also holds the team steady at 22nd.
As a reminder, Bailey’s power rankings are based on a differently timed schedule so there will be additional games in the mix.
Bailey’s Thunder excerpt follows and you can view the entire article by clicking here.
"The Oklahoma City Thunder have won four of their last six games, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continues to look like one of the game’s most consistent high-volume scorers.SGA had his third 40-point game of the season to start this week, and he followed that up with back-to-back 28-point performances.It’s a random number, but we’ll use it since it’s the benchmark Gilgeous-Alexander gave us most recently. After Thursday’s loss, he now has 24 games of at least 28 points, which is only one behind Luka Dončić for the league lead.That also means SGA has gotten to that level in three out of every four games he’s played this season."
CBS Sports
Colin Ward Henninger didn’t offer a week 11 submission.
Weekly Power Rankings:
For those that want to see how the OKC Thunder have progressed this season or to look back at a specific week, the following offers the links breaking down where the OKC Thunder ranked each week…
Week one: click here
Week two: click here
Week three: click here
Week four: click here
Week five: click here
Week six: click here
Week seven: click here
Week eight: click here
Week nine: click here
Week 10: click here
Up next…
Week 12 will feature two home games versus the Spurs and 76ers bookmarking a visit to Charlotte to play the Hornets. It’s also the final trio of matches the OKC Thunder will play in 2022.