Thunder lock No.1 seed
The Oklahoma City Thunder clinched the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed before the regular season finished, guaranteeing them top playoff positioning and home‑court advantage. (That shifts the rest of the West into a scramble for No. 3 and No. 4 seeding, which still matters for matchups and travel in the early rounds.) ( )
Oklahoma City wrapped up the top line in the West before the schedule ended, so every West team that wanted an easy runway just lost it. The Thunder now get home court in every Western Conference series, and the rest of the bracket has to route around them. (nba.com) They sealed it on April 8 with a 128-110 win over the Los Angeles Clippers in Inglewood, a game where Chet Holmgren had 30 points and 14 rebounds and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 20 points and 11 assists. That result also gave Oklahoma City the league’s best regular-season record, not just the best mark in one conference. (espn.com) This is not a one-year spike. Oklahoma City finished 68-14 last season, won the 2025 National Basketball Association title, and followed it by locking up the No. 1 seed again in 2026. (sports.yahoo.com) The standings show how much air they built between themselves and everyone else. Basketball-Reference listed the Thunder at 64-16, three games ahead of the San Antonio Spurs at 61-19, with Denver at 52-28 and both the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets at 51-29. (basketball-reference.com) That gap changes what the final weekend is about. No one can catch Oklahoma City, but the difference between No. 3 and No. 4 still decides who opens at home in the first round and who lands on which side of the West bracket. (usatoday.com) Going into April 10, the West’s middle was still packed tight enough to matter every night: Denver was third, the Lakers were fourth, Houston was fifth, and Minnesota was sixth. One loss can move a team from hosting a series to starting on the road. (nba.com) The calendar matters too. The SoFi Play-In Tournament starts on April 14, and the National Basketball Association playoffs start on April 18, so teams below Oklahoma City have only days left to sort out opponents, travel, and rest. (nba.com) For the Thunder, the reward is simple: fewer flights, last change at home, and four games in Oklahoma City if any series goes seven. For everyone else in the West, the race is no longer about catching first place; it is about avoiding the hardest path to a team that already owns the top seat. (espn.com)
