NBA Week 8 Power Ranking – Where National Scribes Rank OKC Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder had a rough week going 1-2 in their three games and their two losses were blowouts.
Nov 5, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) talks with announcer Craig Sager (R) prior to the game against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
Just as the Thunder were beginning to hit their stride, Victor Oladipo suffered a wrist injury on a terrifying fall against the Boston Celtics last week. This has left Oladipo out for unknown amount of time that included missing all three games last week.
With Oladipo out, the Thunder were unable to manage two tough road games against division foes. The injury is significant because of how Oladipo has been playing, but also because of the drop-off in talent of the players that will be filling those minutes.
With that in mind, here’s how the National pundits ranked the OKC Thunder:
Sport Illustrated – Jeremy Woo
Jeremy Woo had little to say about the Thunder this week, but he held the Thunder at number 10 in his ranks after the two losses sans Oladipo. Instead he let Russell Westbrook’s Shammgod do the talking.
Last Week: 10
Net Rating: +0.1
Russell Westbrook unleashes the #Shammgod! pic.twitter.com/xae2eVTCgE
— NBA (@NBA) December 18, 2016
Nba.com – John Schuhmann
John Schuhmann also gave the Thunder the benefit of the doubt on their rough week and held them at number nine in his rankings.
Pace: 101.0 (7) OffRtg: 102.7 (19) DefRtg: 102.7 (10) NetRtg: +0.1 (13)
The Thunder had a couple of rough offensive games in Portland and Utah with Jerami Grant starting (for the injured Victor Oladipo) and Russell Westbrook shooting 32 percent. But against Phoenix on Saturday, Anthony Morrow started and Westbrook dished out a career-high 22 assists, capping off his 50th career triple-double with a ridiculous Shammgod on poor Tyler Ulis. That broke them out of a offensive funk (which went back to well before Oladipo got hurt), but after hosting the Hawks on Monday, they’ll play 14 of their next 18 games on the road with only four single-game homestands over a six-week stretch.
ESPN – Marc Stein
Marc Stein continued the theme of giving the Thunder the benefit of the doubt and held the Thunder at eight in his rankings, defending Russell Westbrook’s triple doubles along the way.
Seven games left in 2016 for Russell Westbrook, who has 28 triple-doubles since Jan. 1. Which means he can still catch Oscar Robertson for the NBA’s calendar-year-record of 34 in 1961. More importantly, Oklahoma City is 10-3 this season when Angry Russ triple-doubles and 6-8 when he doesn’t. The Thunder, in other words, appear to need everything Westbrook is giving them despite the various critics who take issue with OKC’s reliance on him. The opening third of the season, on this scorecard, belonged to Westbrook as much as anyone. But some help, perhaps, is on the way, with Westbrook’s backup Cameron Payne (foot) nearing his season debut.
CBS – Matt Moore
In a curious move, Matt Moore moves the Thunder up two spots in his rankings to number eight. His reasoning, the Thunder have Russell Westbrook.
OKC’s lost 3 of 5, including a drop to the Blazers. The Thunder are a wildly inconsistent team, which usually I tend to be harsher on. But they have Russell Westbrook. The offense (20th in rating) is bad … but they have Russell Westbrook. It’s a pattern.
The Thunder have four games this week to get back on track vs. ATL, @ NOP, @ BOS, and vs. MIN on Christmas Day. It will be a struggle, but with Cameron Payne nearing a return and Oladipo hopefully returning soon the Thunder may be close to hitting their stride again.
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