The OKC Thunder may have lost Game 1 to the visiting Denver Nuggets on Monday night, but they are far from the only ball club to fall to a lower-seeded opponent on their home turf thus far into the second round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs.
In fact, such a happening has become somewhat of a trend -- and a historic one at that.
With the Golden State Warriors' win over the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center on Tuesday night, for the first time in the association's 78-year existence, all four road teams participating in the conference semifinals have pulled away from their series opener victorious.
As a result, there's a case to be made that Oklahoma City's once-inexcusable loss to the Nuggets now doesn't seem as bad when taking into account how the rest of the postseason is shaping up.
Thunder's Game 1 loss now doesn't seem all that bad in comparison
Now, of course, even with the fact that they've fared no different than the rest of the higher-seeded squads remaining in this year's postseason, a tidbit like this still doesn't give losing homecourt advantage any sort of positive spin.
In fact, it's important to note that, throughout the game's history, teams who trail 0-1 to start out a conference semifinals have gone on to advance to round three just 25.9 percent of the time, according to Land of Basketball.
Still, to know they're not alone on this front moving forward could certainly serve as somewhat of a self-assurance boost for the Thunder, and, ahead of Wednesday's Game 2, they're going to need all the confidence they can get as they attempt to even things up before having to ship out to Denver.
Outside of their questionable late-game decision-making during Monday's opener, perhaps the biggest change needed from this OKC team is their defensive approach, particularly on Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic.
The three-time MVP found himself putting forth a history-setting performance of his own in Game 1, as he became the first player to record 42 points, 22 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks, and 1 steal in a single playoff game.
Though it's virtually impossible to shut down the likes of Jokic, the aim for the Thunder moving forward should be to contain him as best they can or, at the very least, prevent any repeat performances like this.
A way for them to do so could very well be by simply switching the big-bodied Isaiah Hartenstein onto him as his primary defensive matchup, and having Chet Holmgren then serve as a weak-side help defender and rim protector.
It may have come in a rather small sample size during their round-two opener, but such a strategy seemed to have slowed Jokic down considerably at times, as he recorded just five points and four rebounds on a putrid 33.3 percent shooting from the field while I-Hart was the closest assignment to him.
At the very least, a shakeup such as this is worth taking a shot on, especially considering they already find themselves down in this best-of-seven series.