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NBA Makes OKC Thunder Announcement Ahead of 76ers Game

Originally posted on Athlon Sports
By Nathaniel Holloway | Last updated Mar 19, 2025 4:54 PM ET

The Oklahoma City Thunder are at home on Wednesday night as they host the struggling Philadelphia 76ers.

Oklahoma City enters Wednesday’s game amid a three-game winning streak and they will look to extend it against a 76ers team that has lost seven of their last 10 games.

The Thunder will be without their star point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as well as Jalen Williams and Lu Dort in Wednesday’s game, but the 76ers will also be extremely shorthanded as they have ruled out nine players due to injury.

Of course, Wednesday’s contest also has an added layer of intrigue as the Thunder own the 76ers’ 2025 first-round pick if it were to fall out of the top six in the draft lottery, so Oklahoma City will look to hand Philadelphia another loss.

The Thunder also have something else that they are playing for regarding to their seeding once the playoffs begin.

The NBA announced on Wednesday that the Thunder will clinch the number one seed in the Western Conference with a win over the 76ers and also a loss by the Los Angeles Lakers to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night.

The @okcthunder can clinch the No. 1 playoff seed in the Western Conference and the Northwest Division title tonight. pic.twitter.com/KWUpjF3U4x
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) March 19, 2025

Oklahoma City can also clinch the Northwest Division title with a win or a loss by the Nuggets.

Of course, the Thunder have dominated their way through the season thus far as they are currently at the top of the West standings by a large margin over the second place Houston Rockets.

Oklahoma City leads Houston by a whopping 12 and a half games and it is just a matter of time before they clinch the number one seed for the second consecutive season.

The Thunder are also the only team in the West that has already clinched a playoff spot and the third in the NBA to do so with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics having also clinched.

Because of this, Wednesday’s game has more intrigue for Oklahoma City as they try to clinch the top seed in the West and they hope they can get help from the Nuggets as well.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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