NBA Power Rankings, Jan. 9 Edition: A New Face At The Top
By Phil Watson
2. Oklahoma City Thunder (27-8)
Last Week: 2-2
Previous Ranking: 1
Gomes Gone: The Thunder shipped forward Ryan Gomes to the Celtics—where he was immediately waived—and picked up a conditional 2017 second-round pick from the Grizzlies as part of a three-team trade on Tuesday. The key pieces in the deal were guard Jerryd Bayless, who went from Memphis to Boston in exchange for Lee, with the Thunder helping balance the money in the deal. Gomes was on a one-year deal for roughly $1.2 million in his return to the NBA after playing in Germany last season, but he hardly ever played. Gomes logged just 34 minutes in five games for OKC, scoring six points with four rebounds and an assist on 3-of-8 shooting .
The Week That Was: The Thunder lost to the Nets 95-93 on Thursday, won at Minnesota 115-111 on Saturday, beat the Celtics 119-96 on Sunday and lost at Utah 112-101 on Tuesday.
The Numbers: 47.1% FG, 32.3% 3PT, 84.4% FT (2nd), 40.3 RPG, 15.5 TOPG, 107 PPG
The Opponents: 47.8% FG, 41.2% 3PT (29th), 70.4% FT, 37.8 RPG (3rd), 17.5 TOPG (4th), 103.5 PPG
The Leaders: Kevin Durant 35.3 PPG, Serge Ibaka 8.3 RPG (3 games), Durant 6 APG, Durant 2.3 SPG, Durant 1.3 BPG, Ibaka 19-for-35 (54.3%) FG (3 games), Perry Jones 3-for-7 (42.9%) 3PT
Don’t! Shooters: Thabo Sefolosha 7-for-25 (28%) FG, Sefolosha 3-for-13 (23.1%) 3PT