Northwest Division

Oklahoma City Thunder Power Rankings - 2012-13

Power Ranking
WEEKRECORDRANKCOMMENT
Week 2459-212If the Thunder can keep their average margin of victory where it is now, at +9.4, it'll be the sixth-highest figure since the introduction of the 3-point line starting with the 1979-80 season. And the five teams with higher average victory margins, if you pay attention to this stuff, did win it all.
Week 2356-212The Spurs and Nuggets are in injury hell. The Griz have their own health concerns with Marc Gasol playing hurt ... and the Clips are still trying to dig out of a plain old funk. So why isn't OKC giddy as nicely as things are lining up? Are they sufficiently clicking to capitalize on the chaos all around them?
Week 2254-204You can pardon one loss to the Wolves when OKC is 32-4 against sub-.500 teams. And the sudden state of the Spurs might allow the Thunder to steal the West's top seed anyway. But they've been mortal since the All-Star break. And they're just 3-7 against San Antonio, Memphis and Denver.
Week 2152-194I'm as guilty as anyone of taking on a life-or-death tone every time I write about the Thunder in the wake of the James Harden deal. But after seeing that OKC fan make the half-court shot Sunday, then get tackled in celebration by Kevin Durant, I've decided to lighten up. For at least one Monday.
Week 2050-173See? Miami isn't leading in everything. Sunday night's Thunder victory in Dallas marked the league-leading seventh time this season that Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook each crossed the 30-point barrier ... compared to a mere four such instances for LeBron and D-Wade. Score!
Week 1947-162If you miss Professor Hollinger and check the point-differential standings on a daily basis in his honor -- as we're known to do -- you'll note that the Thunder rank as the league's point-margin kings at a nightly average of plus-9.7. That's what a league-high 33 wins by 10 points or more will do.
Week 1843-162We might have just witnessed the most significant weekend of OKC's season (or at least the regular season). The Thunder were in a 3-7 road funk before moving to 3-0 for the season against the Clips. Have to favor 'em now to snag the West's top seed if Tony Parker indeed misses a month.
Week 1741-153After letting James Harden become only the third player in the past 30 years to crack the 45-point plateau against the team he played for in the previous season, it was a handy reminder that the Thunder -- no matter how much rollin' they've been doing -- won't be judged until the playoffs.
Week 1639-143Expectations seemed to change after the James Harden trade, but OKC is where it hoped to be all along thanks to Kevin Durant taking his game to new heights. Serge Ibaka, though, is the key to the playoff Thunder being more than a two-headed monster. (Royce Young, Daily Thunder)
Week 1539-123The previous week was about as bad as it ever gets for OKC thanks to an L in Cleveland and the Russell Westbrook blowup that preceded it. So how do the Thunder respond? Four straight W's by 21 or more, building some decent momentum to take into the Valentine's Day biggie with Miami.
Week 1435-122OKC has always insisted outsiders make a bigger deal about Russell Westbrook's blowups than his teammates and coaches do. Not quite sure how RW can be mad at anyone but himself given how poorly he's shot the ball lately, nor are we sure we can dismiss this outburst so readily.
Week 1334-112Even though it cost 'em the top spot, OKC can't complain too much about a 3-3 trip. Not when it began with two OT games. And with Russell Westbrook's shot malfunctioning again. And with two wins already at Staples Center this month (one over each L.A. team) before Sunday's stumble.
Week 1232-91A true privilege to be in the building for Durant's 52 points. A mild surprise, too, even after KD's 40 against Dallas in December, since he showed up with a career scoring average of just 22.4 ppg against the Mavs -- and a FG percentage of .413 -- for his lifetime lows against any franchise.
Week 1129-81More support for the Thunder's case for No. 1 ... assuming you can get past the fact that Kevin Durant is now 0-for-2 on his past two trips home to the nation's capital: OKC tops the league in offensive efficiency and is knocking on the door of the top five in defensive efficiency.
Week 1026-72Tough to move the Thunder up after the shock of (A) OKC getting spanked at home by the Nets and (B) Kevin Durant getting ejected near the end of that spanking. Can't get too worked up about it, though, when KD & Co. are 17-3 in their last 20 games and 23-1 when they score 100 points.
Week 923-62The NBA's most efficient offense, with the calendar about to be flipped to 2013, can be found in OKC: 110.1 points per 100 possessions. With Serge Ibaka likewise playing the best ball of his life, perhaps it's time to acknowledge that OKC didn't quite throw the season away when it dealt James Harden.
Week 821-52The Thunder will show up for Christmas in Miami without their double-digit win streak but blessed with the solace of four nights off before their rematch with the Heat. It'll actually be just the sixth time in history the two NBA Finals teams meet on Dec. 25 ... with the Finals loser 4-1 so far.
Week 719-41So, so typical. The Thunder, especially offensively, are flat-out rolling. They've won 10 games in a row for the first time since the franchise relocated. And even with San Antonio (and maybe even Stephen Jackson) coming to town, Jeremy Lin at MSG is sure to get all the Monday night spotlight.
Week 617-42More evidence to suggest that the post-Harden healing process is moving at a brisk pace: OKC has just reeled off 12 straight 100-point games. Have to rewind all the way to the 1994-95 season, when the GP-and-Kemp Sonics did it 19 straight times, for the last time this franchise has managed that.
Week 514-44They'll never be known for their ball movement, but the Thunder have clearly been sharing the leather better than they did last season. They also enter the season's second month as a top-five team in offensive and defensive efficiency, which explains why they're rollin' without Harden.
Week 410-44We'll dig into the Thunder's recent defensive slippage or the most well-rounded ball of Kevin Durant's career some other Monday. Nothing else in Loud City matters this week beyond James Harden's first return to town -- and his only scheduled return this season -- in Rockets colors.
Week 38-36Kevin Durant's first career triple-double justifiably got all the pub, but the broader story is that OKC's ball movement in general picked up significantly in the two wins against modest opposition (Hornets and Warriors) after a really bad night on the ball-sharing front in the home loss to Memphis.
Week 25-26Shooting 50.7 percent on 3s in OKC, Kevin Martin can't give much more than he's given to his new team. We'd love to say the same about Russell Westbrook, but the birthday boy had been challenging Nick Young for the unofficial league lead in ill-advised shots until Sunday night.
Week 11-27Three games post-Harden, two deflating L's and two sightings already of the PG known across the Twitterverse as Bad Russell. Good thing I didn't write "things can only get better from here" in this space as I originally planned on the Monday after the trade and OU's loss to Notre Dame.
Preseason0-05The Thunder certainly got a lot back for Harden, but something they surrendered in Saturday night's blockbuster trade that wasn't mentioned in the press release is a chunk of chemistry/continuity edge they had over L.A. Which is why OKC just dipped two spots.
Training Camp47-193Am I, like so many out there, overlooking the fact that the Lakers still have lots of chemistry wrinkles to work out and health questions to answer? Guilty. Thing is, OKC convenes for camp amid plenty of its own uncertainty thanks to Harden's contract situation, Perk's health and that Finals flameout.

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