Thunder Surge to Top Spot in Week 22 Power Rankings

Mo. Basuony

Published: March 18, 2026 11:50 PM ET

Thunder Surge to Top Spot in Week 22 Power Rankings

With under a month left in the regular season, the race for seeding is intensifying. There are 219 games remaining before the SoFi Play-In Tournament.

League snapshot

The league has played 192 games since the All-Star break. That averages 12.8 games per team.

The West holds the edge in interconference play. It leads 186-178 (.511) after a 14-9 week.

Thunder rise and recent form

Oklahoma City sits atop the Week 22 Power Rankings. The Thunder have a 53-15 record.

Their offense rates 116.9 (7th) and their defense 106.3 (1st). Their net rating is +10.7, the league best.

OKC is 11-1 since the All-Star break. They beat Denver, Boston, and Minnesota last week.

Key players returned recently. Alex Caruso, Chet Holmgren, and Isaiah Hartenstein rejoined the rotation.

Ajay Mitchell returned from a 20-game absence. He started the last two games.

Mitchell and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander form a strong two-man offensive pairing. They have scored 123.3 points per 100 possessions together.

The Thunder defense has been stingy since the break, allowing roughly 106 points per 100 possessions. That figure has come against several top-10 offenses.

Gilgeous-Alexander leads the league in clutch scoring. He has 153 points with games within five points in the final five minutes.

He has a career clutch shooting mark of 245-for-504 (48.6%), the best among high-volume guards in the available data.

OKC begins a five-game road trip in Orlando on Tuesday. That trip includes eight straight games against Eastern Conference opponents.

Their road point differential sits at +10.41 per game. That nearly matches last season’s Thunder mark.

Schedule for this week

@ Orlando
@ Brooklyn
@ Washington

Top contenders and notes

San Antonio remains second in the rankings with a 49-18 record. Victor Wembanyama missed one game, breaking a long streak.

The Spurs have outscored opponents by 23.6 points per 100 possessions in Wembanyama’s last 540 minutes.

Boston holds third at 44-23. The Celtics lost consecutive games to San Antonio and Oklahoma City last week.

Most improved teams since the All-Star break

Atlanta Hawks — Pre-break: 26-30 (.464), -1.3 per 100. Post-break: 10-1 (.909), +12.8 per 100.
New Orleans Pelicans — Pre-break: 15-41 (.268), -5.6 per 100. Post-break: 7-5 (.583), +1.9 per 100.
Sacramento Kings — Pre-break: 12-44 (.214), -10.2 per 100. Post-break: 6-7 (.462), -6.1 per 100.
Orlando Magic — Pre-break: 28-5 (.528), -0.4 per 100. Post-break: 10-3 (.769), +9.2 per 100.
Miami Heat — Pre-break: 29-27 (.518), +2.1 per 100. Post-break: 9-3 (.750), +10.0 per 100.

Small sample sizes and scheduling quirks have aided some surges. Sustaining those gains will be difficult for several teams.