Thunder clinch top seed

Oklahoma City wrapped up the National Basketball Association’s best regular-season record at 64 wins and 16 losses, which means every playoff series it can host before the Finals will start in its own building at Paycom Center. The clincher came as the regular season headed into its final weekend, with the Thunder still on a seven-game winning streak. (espn.com, nba.com) That edge is bigger than just a label next to the team name. In the National Basketball Association bracket, the No. 1 seed gets the lowest remaining seed in each conference round, and Oklahoma City also locked up home-court advantage against every Western Conference team because no one in the West can catch its record. (nba.com, nba.com) The race was real until late. San Antonio entered the stretch run at 61-19, only three games back, but Oklahoma City’s 64-16 mark closed the door and left the Spurs in the West’s No. 2 spot. (espn.com, usnews.com) What makes this different from a normal top seed is that Oklahoma City is not arriving as a surprise upstart. The Thunder are the defending National Basketball Association champions, and local coverage in Oklahoma described this as the franchise’s third straight No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. (newson6.com, oklahoman.com) The numbers behind it are blunt. Oklahoma City finished 34-6 at home, 30-9 on the road, and plus-12.1 points per game, which was the best point differential at the top of either conference’s standings page. (espn.com) The timing helps too. The SoFi Play-In Tournament starts on April 14, 2026, and the full playoffs start on April 18, 2026, so the Thunder can spend the last days of the regular season protecting health while the bottom of the bracket is still fighting for survival. (nba.com, espn.com) That traffic jam is mostly below them in the West. Denver, Los Angeles, Houston, and Minnesota had already secured playoff spots, while Phoenix, the Los Angeles Clippers, Portland, and Golden State were still packed into the play-in zone in the latest standings. (espn.com) So the Thunder’s reward is simple: no play-in stress, no seeding drama, and no need to leave home first in any Western Conference series. For a team that has won 19 of its last 20 games and already has 64 wins, the bracket now runs through Oklahoma City. (usnews.com, espn.com)