NBA Power Rankings: Here comes the trade deadline

While the Thunder’s eight-game win streak was nice, they went the opposite direction this week, dropping four in a row to cede first place in the division to Minnesota. They finished the week a half game ahead of Portland and 1.5 games ahead of the Nuggets in the standings, with a big game against the Thunder to start next week staring them in the face. Their Big 3 struggled against the Washington Wizards, making just 20 of their 50 field goal attempts against a team that was without John Wall, but didn’t really seem to miss him. The Thunder lost on a Gary Harris buzzer-beater against the Nuggets on Thursday, losing 127-124. Paul George was magnificent, with 43 points while Westbrook had 21 assists, with the reigning MVP falling one rebound short of another triple-double.

Westbrook went 7-for-21, Paul George went 4-for-16, and Carmelo Anthony went 6-for-17 against the Pelicans on the second night of a back to back, and they lost to Anthony Davis and the Pelicans. It seemed like one of those nights that was a schedule loss, with the team having played three games in four days in three different time zones. They weren’t able to stop the Lakers when it mattered, losing 108-104 on their homecourt. It looked like they were focused on their next game instead of the one they were actually playing in, letting Josh Hart go for 14 points and 11 rebounds. Since being put in the starting lineup for Andre Roberson, Terrance Ferguson hasn’t made a single field goal, with his only two points coming from the free throw line, a remarkable feat to accomplish in about 60 minutes of gameplay.