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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma City Thunder know how vital homecourt advantage can be in securing a championship.
The Thunder won Game 7 at home in the Western Conference finals last year against Denver and Game 7 in the NBA Finals at home against Indiana to win the title. They clinched the Western Conference finals series against Minnesota at home in Game 5.
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This season, the Thunder held off the San Antonio Spurs in the race for homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs. Thanks to a league-best 64-18 record, the road to the NBA title once again goes through Oklahoma City, reigning league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Paycom Center, where the upper levels are known as “Loud City.”
“It’s extremely important,” Thunder guard/forward Jalen Williams said of earning homecourt. “Otherwise, I don’t think everybody would be trying to get the records and stuff. It’s just one of those things. Last year it saved us a couple times. … If we don’t have home court advantage, those can turn out totally different. So, home court is extremely important.”
Oklahoma City will host Game 1 of their first-round series on Sunday against an opponent to be determined.
The Thunder say one of the keys to their success has been to mentally separate this season from the last. They’re not looking to repeat — they are trying merely to win this season’s championship. Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said the detachment from last year’s title has a lot to do with why the team was so successful this season.
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“Last year’s championship was great,” Daigneault said. “We earned it. No one can ever take it from us. And we’ll have the rest of our lives to be the 2025 champions. But it’s also over, and completely mutually exclusive to this year’s playoffs.”
There are plenty of reasons to believe this run will be similar to the last one. The Thunder were fifth in the league in scoring (119 points per game), second in scoring defense (107.9) and first with an 11.1-point average victory margin.
Gilgeous-Alexander is well-positioned to repeat as MVP after averaging 31.1 points and 6.6 assists per…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/road-nba-title-goes-okc-202618348.html
Author : CLIFF BRUNT
Publish date : 2026-04-14 20:26:00
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