NBA Cup Presents OKC Thunder With Another Golden Schedule Opportunity

Oklahoma City had more home games than road games last season, and it is in a great spot to hold that same advantage in 2025-26.

On Thursday, the NBA released the entire 2025-26 schedule for every team. Of course, it only includes 80 of each team’s 82 regular season games because of the NBA Cup, but that’s where things could turn into an advantage for the Thunder.

Last season, the Thunder went 3-1 in group play during the NBA Cup’s group stage. With a bit of help on the final day of group play, the Thunder managed to be the top team in the West, securing home-court advantage for their matchup against the Dallas Mavericks, who advanced to the knockout stage as the conference’s lone wildcard.

In a rematch of 2024’s second-round battle, the Thunder won a high-stakes December contest in the Paycom Center. Winning the first of the two originally unscheduled games, the Thunder secured a trip to Vegas.

That secured the Thunder 41 home games, 40 road games and one neutral-site game last season. While a loss to Dallas in the first knockout game would have left the Thunder with a 42nd home game, having to lose to get that 42nd matchup at home makes it hard to still call it an advantage.

Vegas isn’t home, but it’s not a road game

The NBA Cup’s home being in Vegas has been widely disputed. Although having a neutral-site matchup for the league’s in-season title game is one of many interesting ideas that Adam Silver has championed, it can also foster a lackluster environment, especially if, say, teams from Oklahoma City and Milwaukee are playing for the trophy on a Tuesday night a week before Christmas.

At its worst, the NBA Cup’s semifinals and final still have the feeling of the NBA bubble, with pure hoops and no distractions (other than the whole being in Vegas thing). Still, the Thunder’s matchup in Vegas against the Houston Rockets was a gritty performance on a Saturday that allowed fans from each team to potentially travel to the game. 

With the Thunder’s NBA Cup group stage featuring the Minnesota Timberwolves at home and three matchups against teams that missed the playoffs last year, taking care of business and getting some big wins could gift the Thunder yet another uneven schedule.

Although it might not seem like much to have 40 true road games instead of 41, one game could make all the difference in a tight Western Conference. And if that means the Thunder get to play a fourth matchup against the Rockets in Vegas instead of Houston, it could make all the difference in another title run.