Latest NBA Cup Action Gets OKC Thunder One Step Closer to Schedule Advantage

While Oklahoma City wasn’t in action on Friday night, it benefited from the latest round of NBA Cup action.

Over the first few weeks of the season, the Thunder have been a dominant force. Sitting at 12-1 going into Saturday night’s matchup in Charlotte, the Thunder are clearly in the driver’s seat to secure the best record in the league once again.

Of course, that’s important because of the Thunder’s significant home-court advantage. With the Thunder losing only two games at home in the playoffs and securing a couple of Game 7 victories in Paycom Center, they know how valuable it can be to play at home, and getting one less game on the road in the regular season could be meaningful.

Coming into Friday’s slate of games, the Thunder were one of several unbeaten teams in cup action in the West. With every group still having at least one undefeated team, there was a chance that a point differential tiebreaker could determine which two teams get to host games in the quarterfinals among the three undefeated group winners.

However, the “group of death” lived up to its name on Friday night, as the two remaining undefeated squads in West Group C, the Portland Trail Blazers and San Antonio Spurs, each suffered losses. Although the Thunder were already set up well to win any point differential tiebreaker, their only concern now is to win games.

While the Thunder could still end up as the No. 2 seed in the West’s cup standings behind a potentially undefeated Lakers or Clippers team from West Group B, that doesn’t matter this year. Along with there not necessarily being an advantage to facing the No. 4 seed instead of No. 3, the semifinal matchup will be on a neutral court in Vegas, making it irrelevant who gets the higher seed.

Assuming the Thunder take care of business through group play and win a home quarterfinal matchup, their 82-game schedule would consist of 41 home games, 40 road games and one neutral-site game, a slight advantage over the 41 home and road games that most teams will get.

Beginning in 2025-26, the advantage for being the No. 1 seed in the Cup will be much larger. Starting next season, the semifinal matchups will also take place on the home court of the higher-seeded team, which could give the top seed in either conference 42 home games and 40 road games.

While the Thunder seem ready to run away with the league’s best record again this season, potentially having to play one less game in a true road environment could help push them over the edge if things get tight at the top of the standings.