Could OKC Thunder Keep Odd Playoff Trend Going in 2027?

The Thunder have faced many teams in this era, but never the same squad twice.

Apr 27, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) and center Chet Holmgren (7) against the Phoenix Suns during game four of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Oklahoma City has been one of the league’s top teams for the past three seasons, and it’s had a bit of an unusual run of postseason opponents.

Over the past three seasons, the Thunder have been the No. 1 seed in the West and quickly turned a rebuild into another competitive era of Oklahoma City basketball. Going into next season, the team is expected to be a title favorite yet again, and its offseason departures shouldn’t keep it from shining.

Still, things will look a bit different next season, and the Thunder will have some questions to answer along the way. When the playoffs come around, this Thunder squad might finally have to experience something it hasn’t up to this point: a rematch.

Across the three playoff runs of this Thunder era, the team has yet to play a playoff series against the same team twice. Across nine playoff series in three seasons, the Thunder have faced nine unique opponents.

It seemed nearly inevitable that the Thunder would be tasked with facing Luka Doncic’s Mavericks or Nikola Jokic’s Nuggets, but neither of those rematches came to be the following year. And now, the San Antonio Spurs and Victor Wembanyama seem like an inevitability.

Obviously, this run will end at some point, given that there are only so many teams Oklahoma City could face in the Western Conference. Still, there may be a shot that the Thunder could keep this streak going another season. 

If the Thunder make the NBA Finals again, they would simply need to play a team other than Indiana for their Eastern Conference opponent. However, the path to the Finals gets a bit more complicated in terms of teams this era is yet to face.

In this era, the Thunder have yet to play six Western Conference teams in the postseason: the Houston Rockets, Sacramento Kings, LA Clippers, Golden State Warriors, Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers. Of those six, the Rockets are the only team that has the clear-cut talent to make a conference finals, but Portland or Utah could sneak into that race as well. 

It would certainly be an unexpected path through the postseason if Oklahoma City faced only opponents from that list, but no one expected the Thunder to face Minnesota in the conference finals in 2025, either. Ultimately, this oddity will come to an end at some point in the near future, likely next season, but for now, there’s still a chance that Oklahoma City will keep its streak of only facing unique playoff opponents intact.