Here we go again. It feels like just a few weeks ago we crowed the Milwaukee Bucks 2020-21 NBA champions. Well, the NBA just released the 2021-22 OKC Thunder schedule and the new season will be here before you know it.
Go ahead and order that coffee in bulk on Amazon, and click the reoccurring deliver feature. The NBA season is nearly upon us, This time? The league is back on an 82-game schedule, everyone is playing in their home arena, and fans will file in.
OKC Thunder 2021-22 NBA Schedule key dates
The Oklahoma City Thunder will begin training camp on September 28th, with their first preseason tune-up on October 4th against the Charlotte Hornets in the Paycom Center. The team will play four preseason tilts with the next three coming on October 10th, 13th, and 14th.
We now know the entire schedule for the regular season which will get underway in Utah as the Thunder take on the Jazz on October 20th at 8 p.m. central time. The team will then travel to Houston to take on Alprene Sengun, Jalen Green, and the Rockets on the 22nd with that matchup set for 7 p.m. local time.
Finally, after being locked out for a year, Oklahoma City Thunder fans can return to the recently re-named Paycom Center to watch the boys in blue live as they take on the Philadelphia 76ers at 6 p.m. on October 24th.
That begins a three-game homestand in which the Thunder will take on The Warriors (October 26th) and Russell Westbrook’s Lakers on October 27th.
The OKC Thunder will play four nationally televised games if you count NBATV as a national contest.
NBATV will pick up the November 7th tilt against the San Antonio Spurs, the December 6th game against Oklahoma State Alumni Cade Cunningham and the Pistons, as well as the January 26th against Evan Mobley’s Cavs, and Jalen Suggs’ Magic squad take on the Thunder on March 20th on NBATV.
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The team keeps their annual tradition alive, playing a home game on New Year’s Eve as they welcome the New York Knicks to the Paycom Center.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort will make their return home to Canada as the team takes on Toronto on December 8th. The last time SGA played a game in Canada? He dropped 32 points, seven rebounds, and two assists.
The Oklahoma City Thunder see 14 back-to-backs three home and home sets, five road and road pairs, five home and then road sets, with one road then home set.
With no true national TV game, Bally Sports Oklahoma has broadcasting rights to all 82 Thunder games. The schedule makers balanced the workload well, as the team will play 15 games in December and March, 14 games in November and January, 12 games in February, and six in October.
After being kept out of the arena all last year, fans will get to welcome back some familiar faces for the first time next season. Billy Donovan’s bulls come to town on the 26th of January, Chris Paul and the Suns enter the Paycom Center on February 24th, Dennis Schroder on this second team since the Thunder will bring the Celtics to town on March 21st. Since being dealt away, Steven Adams is also on his second team and is welcomed back with the Memphis Grizzlies on March 13th.
Danilo Gallinari will see his warm embrace come days before Hamidou Diallo’s return as the Hawks come to Bricktown on March 30th before Troy Weavers Pistons matchup with OKC on April 1st as fans spend April fools day welcoming back Hamidou Diallo.
As fans will always show support for Russell Westbrook, even possibly becoming Lakers fans during this tanking season for the Thunder, the triple-double machine will dazzle the Paycom Center floor on October 27th and December 10th with each game tipping off at 7 p.m. local time.
As fans will be welcomed back for the first time in over a year, that Friday night affair between the Lakers and Thunder will be a tough one to get. LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Aleksej Pokusevski all sharing the same floor on a Friday night as most families begin their Christmas break.
For those interested in tickets, the OKC Thunder will begin selling tickets from home games that take place between October 4th-December 31st 2021 on August 26th, 2021 at 10 a.m. on the team website, or Ticket Master. Tickets for the 2022 portion of the schedule will not be available until November 26th at 10 a.m.