Following a six-day span where they were found on the road for four of their last five contests, the OKC Thunder are now gearing up for a homestand that will span 10 days and see six games played at Paycom Center.
For any team, such a stretch is bound to be lauded by its players, but, for Oklahoma City, its arrival comes at the ideal time, as they are fresh off their first loss of the 2024-25 campaign and are looking to start up a new winning stretch to further separate themselves from the rest of the pack in these tight-knit Western Conference standings.
Friday night marks game one of this enviable part on the calendar, as the Thunder will find themselves playing host to the Houston Rockets, and, in a recent post-practice interview session, rising star forward Jalen Williams couldn't help but speak glowingly about all the benefits that are bound to come with it.
Jalen Williams talks benefits of upcoming home stand for OKC Thunder
Stressing the constant travel throughout the league's 82-game slate, on top of the obvious jolt of energy that a home arena generally provides their team throughout a contest, Williams seemed to suggest that getting into a consistent schedule and, specifically, to "get on a sleep routine" is what he believes will be the most beneficial effect of this coming stretch for him and his Thunder teammates.
"We don't have to travel, I get to sleep in my own bed, the crowd! There are a lot of benefits being at home. The NBA season is long and you travel all the time, you're always getting in at 4 AM. To have a schedule set for the next... week and a half... is really good," Williams said.
What makes these comments all the more exciting is the fact that, despite the regular travel and presumed sub-perfect sleeping conditions that come with an NBA season, Williams and the Thunder have proven to be absolutely dominant through their first eight games of the year, five of which were held on the road.
As a collective, OKC is sporting a 7-1 record which is tied for the best mark in the Western Conference and for the second-best in the entire association, while J-Dub is off to a sensational start with impressive all-around averages of 19.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 2.3 steals while shooting 46.6 percent from the floor and 40.9 percent from deep.
Over the past couple of seasons, Oklahoma City has proven itself to be quite dominant when playing in front of their home crowd, as they've compiled a record of 60-25 since the 2022-23 season and, throughout all of 2023-24, managed to win 33 of their 41 bouts in the 73102.
Already off to a 3-0 start on the year, hopefully they'll be able to continue adding more wins to this impressive ongoing record.