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USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
OKC Thunder release entire 2025-26 regular season schedule
In one of the biggest days of the NBA calendar, the league announced its 2025-26 regular season schedule. The Oklahoma City Thunder now know what their year will look like. The NBA champions enter as a popular pick to repeat. The Thunder will play 82 regular-season games from October 2025 to April 2026. They will split their schedule in half with 41 games at home and 41 games on the road. They will play 34 games on national television, which shouldn't be surprising for the NBA champion. The Thunder's entire 2025-26 regular season can be viewed below: As is tradition, the Thunder will kick off the 2025-26 season. They will host the Houston Rockets on Opening Night on Tuesday, Oct. 21. They will unveil their championship banner and hold a ring ceremony beforehand. It will be the first contest of the new NBA on NBC era. The Thunder will also be featured in the Christmas 2025 schedule. It's one of the NBA's biggest days of the regular season. They will host the San Antonio Spurs. It will be their first Christmas game since 2018. Other games previously announced were their road trip to the Indiana Pacers. The 2025 NBA Finals rematch will happen in OKC's second game of the season. They will also travel to face the Cleveland Cavaliers on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The Thunder also learned when they will play their four group games for the 2025 NBA Cup during November. The other teams in West's Group A are the Minnesota Timberwolves, Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz. The Thunder will run it back with mostly the same roster. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren headline the championship winner. Expect them to be the consensus title favorite after they had one of the greatest seasons in NBA history last year.
USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Predicting if OKC Thunder can advance out of group play in 2025 NBA Cup
A day before the entire 2025-26 regular season schedule drops, the league announced the 2025 NBA Cup group games. The Oklahoma City Thunder were placed in West Group A for this year's in-season tournament. The other four teams in the group are the Minnesota Timberwolves, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings and Utah Jazz. There are six groups of five teams throughout the NBA. Three for each conference. Each team will play each other in their group round-robin style from Oct. 31 to Nov. 28. After the group stage standings are finalized, the six group winners and two wildcard teams. The 2025 NBA Cup semifinals and championship will be played in Las Vegas from Dec. 13-16. A financial bonus for the entire roster is on the line. The Thunder finished just shy of bringing home the NBA Cup last season. They lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in the tournament finals in Las Vegas in an 83rd game of the regular season.. Now that the group play schedule is out, let's predict if the Thunder can advance to the eight-team knockout stage: Friday, Nov. 17: at Kings It's always a bit funky when the Thunder play in Sacramento. The Kings may be a mess, but they have enough talent to serve an upset. That said, the NBA champions are far and ahead of a team that didn't even make the playoffs last year. Domantas Sabonis is a double-double machine, but the Holmgren-Hartenstein frontcourt should be enough to slow him down. Prediction: Thunder win Friday, Nov. 21: at Jazz This should be easy. The Thunder and Jazz are on opposite sides of the NBA highway. The Thunder are the NBA champions and the best team in the league. The Jazz hit the rebuild button and should have another season where they contend for the worst record. This should be an easy win for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as they pat their point differential. Prediction: Thunder win Wednesday, Nov. 26: vs. Timberwolves A rematch of the Western Conference Finals. This should be the Thunder's most competitive game of group play. There's a reason why it'll be broadcast on ESPN. The Thunder are the better team, but the Timberwolves are good enough to sneak away with a win. That said, Gilgeous-Alexander has usually dominated Minnesota. Expect that to continue next season as the Thunder get an impressive home win. Prediction: Thunder win Friday, Nov. 28: vs. Suns Another team that the Thunder are better than. It's that simple sometimes. The Suns gave up on their title ambitions when Kevin Durant was traded. Now, they're trying to retool around Devin Booker. Lu Dort, Cason Wallace and Alex Caruso will shut down Phoenix's franchise player. This should be another easy home win for OKC, which was nearly unbeatable in its home gym last season. Prediction: Thunder win
Miami Herald
10-07-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
NBA releases groups for 2025 NBA Cup tourney
The NBA released the six, five-team groups for the third annual 2025 NBA Cup, which will tip-off on October 31. The world champion Oklahoma City Thunder are in West Group A, along with Western Conference finalist Minnesota, Phoenix, Sacramento and Utah. The Milwaukee Bucks, who captured the 2024 NBA Cup, will compete in East Group C, along with Charlotte, Chicago, Miami and New York. Each team will play two home and two road games in group play, which will conclude on Nov. 28. The winners of the three groups in each conference and one wild-card team per conference will compete in the quarterfinals on Dec. 9-10. The wild-card teams will be the team from each conference with the best record in Group Play games that finished second in their group. The semifinals will take place in Las Vegas on Dec. 13 and the championship game will tip off in Las Vegas on Dec. 16. Quarterfinal and semifinal contests will count in the league standings. Teams that do not qualify out of the group stage will have two games vs. other squads that did not qualify. Those games will also count in the league standings, but the championship game (and statistics from that game) will not. The Bucks defeated the Thunder to capture the 2024 NBA Cup, while the Los Angeles Lakers knocked off the Indiana Pacers to win the inaugural edition in 2023. The complete schedule will be announced in August when the league unveils the entire 2025-26 NBA slate. The groups: East Group A -- Cleveland, Indiana, Atlanta, Toronto, Washington East Group B -- Boston, Detroit, Orlando, Brooklyn, Philadelphia East Group C -- Milwaukee, New York, Chicago, Miami, Charlotte West Group A -- Oklahoma City, Minnesota, Sacramento, Phoenix, Utah West Group B -- L.A. Lakers, LA Clippers, Memphis, Dallas, New Orleans West Group C -- Houston, Denver, Golden State, Portland, San Antonio --Field Level Media Field Level Media 2023 - All Rights Reserved
GMA Network
10-07-2025
- Sport
- GMA Network
NBA releases groups for 2025 NBA Cup tourney
The NBA released the six, five-team groups for the third annual 2025 NBA Cup, which will tip-off on October 31. The world champion Oklahoma City Thunder are in West Group A, along with Western Conference finalist Minnesota, Phoenix, Sacramento and Utah. The Milwaukee Bucks, who captured the 2024 NBA Cup, will compete in East Group C, along with Charlotte, Chicago, Miami and New York. Each team will play two home and two road games in group play, which will conclude on Nov. 28. The winners of the three groups in each conference and one wild-card team per conference will compete in the quarterfinals on Dec. 9-10. The wild-card teams will be the team from each conference with the best record in Group Play games that finished second in their group. The semifinals will take place in Las Vegas on Dec. 13 and the championship game will tip off in Las Vegas on Dec. 16. Quarterfinal and semifinal contests will count in the league standings. Teams that do not qualify out of the group stage will have two games vs. other squads that did not qualify. Those games will also count in the league standings, but the championship game (and statistics from that game) will not. The Bucks defeated the Thunder to capture the 2024 NBA Cup, while the Los Angeles Lakers knocked off the Indiana Pacers to win the inaugural edition in 2023. The complete schedule will be announced in August when the league unveils the entire 2025-26 NBA slate. The groups: East Group A -- Cleveland, Indiana, Atlanta, Toronto, Washington East Group B -- Boston, Detroit, Orlando, Brooklyn, Philadelphia East Group C -- Milwaukee, New York, Chicago, Miami, Charlotte West Group A -- Oklahoma City, Minnesota, Sacramento, Phoenix, Utah West Group B -- L.A. Lakers, LA Clippers, Memphis, Dallas, New Orleans West Group C -- Houston, Denver, Golden State, Portland, San Antonio — Field Level Media/Reuters
USA Today
09-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
2025 NBA Cup groups announced: Which are easiest, hardest?
NBA teams now know which opponents they will face in the 2025 NBA Cup. The league announced the results of the group stage draw on Wednesday, July 9, setting three groups per conference, with five teams in each group. The drawing was made at random, based on win-loss record. Formerly known as the in-season tournament, the NBA Cup will begin Friday, Oct. 31, 10 days after the start of the 2025-26 regular season. The NBA made the announcement in a video with former NBA player and Amazon analyst Blake Griffin and Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren; Amazon Prime will air 66 games next season, including all from the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup. Here's everything you need to know about the NBA Cup's group stage. NBA Cup groups How does the group stage in the NBA Cup work? Group stage games will take place on designated NBA Cup nights from Oct. 31 through Nov. 28. Each squad will play one game against each of the opponents in its group. The six group stage winners will advance, as will a wild card team from each conference; wild card teams are set based on winning percentage and certain tiebreakers. From there, the teams will play in single-elimination knockout rounds. The semifinals and finals will take place Saturday, Dec. 13 and Tuesday, Dec. 16, in Las Vegas. Easiest group in the NBA Cup It's between West A and East A, but because West A has both teams that made conference final appearances, the nod goes to East A. The Cavaliers are a formidable threat for an NBA title after winning 64 games last season, best in the conference. The Hawks are much improved after a stellar offseason, though they are still largely unproven. The Wizards are in a full rebuild. The Raptors could surprise with full health, but are still likely a few pieces away from contention. The Pacers will be without star guard Tyrese Haliburton and former center Myles Turner, who signed with the Bucks. Hardest group in the NBA Cup West C is stacked. The Nuggets, Warriors and Rockets were each playoff teams, but Houston retooled and added Kevin Durant in a blockbuster trade as it gears up for championship contention. Denver also improved with its trade for Cameron Johnson, while the Warriors are going to try to make another run at a title with a full season of Jimmy Butler in the Bay Area. The San Antonio Spurs won just 34 games last season, but they faced injury issues and are a potential breakout team, with Victor Wembanyama entering his third season. The Trail Blazers are the weakest team in the group, though they improved as the 2024-25 regular season progressed. Past NBA Cup champions 2024: Milwaukee Bucks2023: Los Angeles Lakers
