Jun 24, 2025; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder fans gather outside Paycom Center to watch the 2024-25 Oklahoma City Thunder championship parade. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

OKC Thunder Bolstered by Home-Court Advantage in 2025 Playoffs

Originally posted on Oklahoma City Thunder on SI
By Ethan Baca | Last updated Aug 9, 2025 8:40 AM ET

While every NBA arena provides pristine indoor playing conditions for both teams, the fans, presentation and overall environment favor one squad significantly. During the 2024-25 regular season, 22 of 30 teams won more home games than away games, four teams tallied identical splits and just four teams were more successful on the road.

The Oklahoma City Thunder earned a spot in the first group by racking up 35 wins at Paycom Center, 32 wins away from home and one win in a neutral-site NBA Cup semifinal against the Houston Rockets on Dec. 14, 2024. Oklahoma City scored 4.1 more points per game and allowed 0.5 fewer points per game in home than away contests. It also averaged more assists, steals, blocks, fewer turnovers, and a higher 3-point percentage and free throw percentage.

The Thunder's home dominance hit another level during the 2025 postseason. The No. 1 overall seed won 11 games in Oklahoma City after the calendar flipped, earning more wins by 30 or more points (4) than total losses (2). Both defeats came after holding double-digit fourth-quarter leads, as Aaron Gordon and Tyrese Haliburton each nailed last-second jump shots to complete Game 1 comebacks for the second-round Denver Nuggets and NBA Finals Indiana Pacers, respectively.

Oklahoma City finished with a +19.9 average point differential in home playoff games. The other 15 teams trod their way to a 37-34 home playoff record with a +3.0 average point differential, as only the Pacers (8-3), Nuggets (5-2) and Minnesota Timberwolves (5-2) also won at least 70% of their home games — three consecutive Thunder opponents.

MVP Magic At Home

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander raised the Michael Jordan Trophy as the regular-season MVP on May 22, the Magic Johnson Trophy as the Western Conference Finals MVP on May 28, and the Bill Russell Trophy as the NBA Finals MVP on June 22, each in front of a sold-out home crowd.

Gilgeous-Alexander exemplified his team's playoff performance by producing significantly better in Oklahoma City. He averaged 31.5 points on 47.1% shooting, 7.3 assists, 2.1 steals, 1.0 blocks, 1.9 turnovers and a +16.4 plus-minus at home. His road averages: 27.8 points on 45.0% shooting, 5.5 assists, 1.1 steals, 0.7 blocks, 3.5 turnovers and a -4.7 plus-minus as the Thunder went 5-5.

The Thunder won all three home closeout games — Game 7 against the Nuggets on May 18, Game 5 against the Timberwolves and Game 7 against the Pacers — by 74 combined points. Gilgeous-Alexander totaled 98 points on 34-for-71 shooting (7-for-20 3-pointers), 24 assists, 15 rebounds, six steals, three blocks and just three turnovers, with an overwhelming +66 plus-minus.

Oklahoma City is in better shape than most defending champions, returning its entire rotation and progressing naturally due to overall youth. Still, the Thunder needs another highly successful regular season for thorough home-court advantage more than most, if not all, current contenders.

This article first appeared on Oklahoma City Thunder on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: