The Portland Trail Blazers have their hands full in the NBA’s toughest division. Here’s our first power ranking of Northwest teams of the 2019-20 season.
The Portland Trail Blazers got off to a strong start to the new season with their new roster, achieving two victories against strong teams. This looks to be just the first step in another hopeful playoff run.
But is it enough to get an edge on their rivals in the Northwest Division?
The division combined for an impressive record of 10-4 in the opening week, wreaking havoc all throughout the league. Here’s a look at our first inter-divisional power ranking of the season.
5. Oklahoma City Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder had an interesting opening week to their season in which the franchise saw their biggest roster revamp since the departure from Seattle.
The Thunder went 1-2 on the week, including a beatdown to the Warriors in which they won by 28 points. OKC also played very well against their division rival Utah Jazz, losing a close game by only by 5 points; a few fixed mistakes could’ve led to another Thunder victory. Where the misery comes in for the Thunder was the extremely disappointing double-digit loss to the Wizards that the team needs to forget about moving forward.
The Russell Westbrook era is officially over and the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander days are upon us. The 21-year-old 6’5 point guard out of Kentucky shined this week showcasing all that his arsenal has to offer. He averaged just over 24 points a night and was efficient shooting the ball from anywhere except the free-throw line, but OKC fans are used to that from their point guards.
Shai. Spin. Scoop. @shaiglalex | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/IJ8xrIr2cU
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 27, 2019
Chris Paul’s Thunder debut was nothing special, to say the least, but he came out red hot from behind the arc. Paul shot nearly 55 percent on 4 attempts per night, but that’s the only part of his game that truly stood out. He only averaged 3 assists a game and shot barely above 70 percent from the free-throw line.
Danilo Gallinari showed his ability to shoot the ball all week long. Gallo averaged 20 points per outing with shooting splits of 53/47/100 which is something we could never expect to be maintained, but it should still have Thunder fans raving about their new small forward.
Steven Adams appears to miss playing alongside Westbrook who always got him easy attempts at the rim. Adams averaged just 6 points a game this week which is nearly 8 points under what he averaged last year. The rebounding remained intact for their New Zealand center as he totaled just over eleven rebounds a night.
The upcoming schedule for the Thunder has them in Houston Monday night where Chris Paul will look to take down his former squad in what should be somewhat of a revenge game in his mind. The Thunder return home on Wednesday to face the Trail Blazers who looked very good in their opening week with the addition of Hassan Whiteside seeming to fit very well. The Thunder remains at home on Saturday and gets 2 days to rest prior to the youthful Pelicans coming to town who are still searching for their first win.