OKC Thunder Christmas Day History, Best Performances
One of the most exciting NBA regular season days of basketball is Christmas Day. For people in central time, the games kick off right around 11 a.m. and continue for around 12 hours. It's comparable to the NFL on Thanksgiving Day.
For years, Thunder fans could rely on the team playing on the big day. From 2010 to 2018, they appeared in each Christmas Day's slate of games. They've played in over half of the Christmas Day games since they were relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008. For the last five years, though, the Thunder has been excluded from the slate of games.
Now, the Thunder could soon be a marquee team to play on Christmas Day with a rapidly rising young core that seems to be ready to take the league by storm, but the time isn't quite now. So, in the meantime, Thunder fans can take a look at the Thunder Christmas Day games in history.
In the nine Christmas games, the Thunder is 6-3 with the team's first win coming in 2010 -- its first Christmas Day game. Kevin Durant led the Thunder over the Denver Nuggets as he scored 44 points in the 114-106 win.
In 2016, the Thunder had a 4-2 Christmas Day record as they were set to host the Minnesota Timberwolves, who were playing in their first Christmas game. This was the Thunder's first season without Durant, which was subsequently Russell Westbrook's record-breaking, MVP season. He led the Thunder to a 112-100 win over the Timberwolves while racking up 31 points and 15 assists, which was just another stat line for Westbrook that season.
While 2016 was arguably Westbrook's best Christmas Day performance, he also put up a big game in 2014, when the Thunder took on the San Antonio Spurs. Westbrook put up 34 points, accompanied by 16 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks from Steven Adams.
Overall, the Thunder has been a unique team on Christmas Day, but it's been too long since they've taken the court on the marquee day. Soon, with a core of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, the Thunder should be playing a Christmas Day game against an opposing team also competing for championships.
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