The OKC Thunder have finished with the best record in the Western Conference standings in each of the last three seasons. Considering how their upcoming schedule seems to have panned out, it appears that a fourth consecutive top-seeded finish could now be seen as a virtual lock.
According to ESPN's findings, Oklahoma City currently has the easiest strength of schedule heading into the 2026-27 campaign.
Now, this may come as a bit of a surprise considering the difficult start to their campaign that's ahead. Their first two games will be against the San Antonio Spurs and Denver Nuggets, both of whom just finished within the top three in the Western Conference standings, while five of their first eight games will be against clubs that finished with 50 or more wins last year.
However, beyond that, Oklahoma City seems to have quite a favorable schedule in many other respects, such as their seven separate instances where they'll be playing three or more consecutive home games, including a stretch in February where they see as many as seven in a row, and the fact that they will see just 14 back-to-backs on the year, equating to just four per month.
Thunder claimed top seed with one of toughest schedules in 2025-26
Now, granted, having an easy schedule doesn't automatically guarantee that a club will go on to have a solid campaign. After all, they'll need to capitalize on such a luxury for a full 82 games.
However, considering how well this Thunder team fared last season with the roles essentially reversed, fans should feel more than confident that another 60-win season should be on the horizon.
After claiming their first NBA Championship of the Sooner State era in 2025, Oklahoma City found themselves facing the second-toughest schedule in the entire league, according to ESPN.
This, along with a slew of long-lasting injuries to key players like Jalen Williams, for instance, may have hurt an ordinary team's on-court success. Not the Thunder, of course.
Even with these built-in hardships, OKC still managed to rattle off the franchise's second-most wins in a single season with 64 and earned the number one seed in the entire association for the second straight time. They also became just the third team in history to win 64 or more games in consecutive years, joining the 1996 and 1997 Chicago Bulls and the 2015 through 2017 Golden State Warriors.
With the league's easiest schedule, it's more than a realistic expectation that this same Thunder team should once again finish atop the West's totem pole, perhaps even pushing for the best overall record in the NBA along the way.
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