Starting with a back-to-back on the road, the Thunder begins the ever-unique journey that is an 82-game NBA schedule in exciting fashion.
The Thunder will open the 2014-15 campaign with an Oct. 29th clash at Portland against the Trailblazers and follow it up the next night with an Oct. 30th battle in Los Angeles against the Clippers in a rematch of the Western Conference Semi-finals.
The home opener at Chesapeake Energy Arena will be Nov. 1st in a Saturday night matchup against the Denver Nuggets. The single home tilt is then followed up with the second of the Thunder’s 18 back-to-back sets of games this season when the team travels to play the Nets in Brooklyn and Raptors in Toronto on Nov. 3rd and 4th.
A balance of home and road games follows, including the first of eleven home Sunday games with a Nov. 9th game against the Sacramento Kings. As a part of a four-game home stand, the Thunder also has two home games surrounding Thanksgiving Day as the team takes on the Utah Jazz on Nov. 26th and the New York Knicks on Nov. 28th.
On Dec. 2nd, the Thunder embarks on a three-game road trip to New Orleans, Philadelphia and Detroit. After a home tilt on Dec. 11th against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Thunder takes a three-game road trip to California, ending with a Dec. 19th battle against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Thunder will play on national TV on Christmas Day (Dec. 25th) for the fifth-straight season, and the third-straight season on the road, when it travels to San Antonio to face the Spurs in a Western Conference Finals rematch. As has become tradition in Oklahoma City, the Thunder will again host “Opening Night” as the team rings in the New Year with a Dec. 31st home game against the Phoenix Suns. This will mark the Thunder's 7th straight New Year’s Eve home game.
The schedule is then mixed with home and road tilts, including two of the Thunder’s 12 one-game road trips on the season. Starting on Jan. 18th in Orlando against the Magic, however, the Thunder begins its longest road stretch of the year with a five-game road trip that concludes with an ABC tilt against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Jan. 25th. That road trip folds into a stretch of seven-out-of-eight games away from home.
Although the Thunder has two more three-game road trips left on the schedule after that, the back half of the schedule is generally home-heavy. In fact, the Thunder has two four-game home-stands at Chesapeake Energy Arena that are a part of a stretch of eight-of-nine at home and 13-of-20 in front of the Loud City crowd to end the season.
A stretch of four-out-of-six at home to conclude the season is highlighted by the Thunder’s only home game against the defending NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs on April 7th. The Thunder’s final home tilt will be an April 13th Northwest Division showdown against the Portland Trail Blazers and the season ends on April 15th in Minnesota against the Timberwolves.
The Thunder will again have a full slate of games on national TV, a total of 32 on ABC, TNT, ESPN and NBATV. A total of 70 games can be seen on Fox Sports Oklahoma.
Prior to the start of the regular season, the Thunder will play seven preseason games, including games in Tulsa and Wichita. Be sure to stay at Thunder.nba.com for more information.
Regular Season by the Numbers:
Longest road trip: five games
Longest home stand: four games (three times)
18 back to backs
12 single-game road trips
11 Sunday home games
70 games on Fox Sports Oklahoma
32 games on national television
10 games on ESPN
9 games on TNT
6 games on ABC
7 games on NBATV