Christmas With The Thunder?
The Thunder’s preseason schedule is out, and the regular season schedule shouldn’t be far behind.
The NBA is likely to release the league-wide schedule next week, and all signs point to the Thunder having a Christmas game.The Thunder turned in a league-best 27-game improvement last year en route to a 50-win season and a berth in the playoffs. As the eighth seed, OKC pushed the now two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers to six games in the first round of the playoffs. And Kevin Durant is the league’s newest superstar, having become the youngest player to ever win the scoring title after averaging 30.1 points at just 21 years old. Many now project the Thunder as the second best team in the Western Conference behind the Lakers. Add it all up and it seems inevitable the Thunder will be featured on the NBA’s annual holiday showcase.
It would be the first ever Christmas game for the Thunder. Oklahoma City fans also would experience their first Christmas game dating back to when the NBA first came to town with the temporarily displaced New Orleans Hornets in 2005.
The Thunder franchise last played a Christmas game in 2007, losing 89-79 at Portland in a game that was supposed to feature that year’s No. 1 overall pick, Greg Oden, and No. 2 overall pick, Durant. Oden, however, was sidelined for the season because of microfracture surgery on his right knee.
The league schedules five Christmas games annually, attempting to pair the best possible matchups to attract the most possible viewers across ABC and ESPN. The first game tips off at 11 a.m. The final game gets underway at 9:30 p.m.
Last season’s schedule had Miami at New York on ESPN at 11 a.m., Boston at Orlando on ABC at 1:30 p.m., Cleveland at the Lakers on ABC at 4 p.m., the Clippers at Phoenix on ESPN at 7 p.m. and Denver at Portland on ESPN at 9:30 p.m.
There are only about 14 teams that warrant consideration for a Christmas game: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, the L.A. Lakers, L.A. Clippers, Miami, New York, Orlando, Phoenix, Portland, San Antonio and Utah. Four of those teams won’t make the cut.
Earlier this month, ESPN’s J.A. Adande expressed doubt in the league matching up Miami and the Lakers after losing a marquee team in Cleveland following the departure of LeBron James. I don’t buy that logic. As noted above, there are plenty of teams worthy of scheduling on Christmas. More importantly, the networks will want to see Kobe, Gasol and Artest against James, Wade and Bosh. And I’d be shocked if that Heat-Lakers contest isn’t in the same prime 4 p.m. slot that last year’s Cleveland-Lakers game was played in. If the networks pass on a Heat-Lakers matchup, which again I highly doubt, that could open the door for a rematch of the Thunder-Lakers on Christmas Day.
The biggest question for the Thunder, though, is whether it will play a Christmas game at home or on the road. Based on the structure of the five-game Christmas schedule, it’s a bit of a challenge to give the Thunder a home game.
When the time zone’s are factored in, Oklahoma City automatically is eliminated from hosting an 11 a.m. or 9:30 p.m. And, again, that 4 p.m. slot has Lakers-Heat written all over it. That leaves the 1:30 p.m. slot and the 7 p.m. slot as the only logical options for hosting a game. The 1:30 p.m. slot, though, is reserved for one of the two best marquee matchups as the first game of an ABC double-header — Boston at Orlando last year. Unless the Thunder somehow lucks into that 1:30 p.m. slot (which could happen if Boston-Orlando is scheduled for 11 a.m.), or the 4 p.m. tip (which isn’t happening), any Christmas game played inside the Ford Center figures to be at 7 p.m.
Update: One final potential snag is that Christmas falls on a Saturday this year. The Thunder played zero Saturday home games last season, preferring the Friday, Sunday combo. That could change, however, if OKC is featured more prominently this season on TNT’s lineup on Thursday nights, which would lend itself to more Thursday, Saturday combinations.
Correction: The Thunder played three Saturday games last season, playing host to Charlotte, Indiana and Miami. It was the 2008-09 season that the Thunder did not play any Saturday games.
So where does that leave the Thunder? Here are five possibilities of where Oklahoma City could land.
1) Oklahoma City at Portland, 9:30 p.m.
These two Northwest Division rivals have become the two best young teams in the league and could both be top four seeds in the Western Conference this season. Plus, the Durant-Oden debate (or debacle depending on your time zone) will live on forever.
2) Oklahoma City at Dallas, 1:30 p.m.
Both are again expected to be two of the best teams in the West, and with longtime star Dirk Nowitzki the Mavs have nationwide appeal that the Thunder is slowly building. It also shouldn’t be hard to sell Dirk and Durant, two of the top two scorers in the league, to viewers.
3) Denver at Oklahoma City, 7 p.m.
It’s always a shootout when these two teams meet, and nothing has generated more interest in the NBA game over the past five seasons quite like high-scoring affairs. And Carmelo Anthony vs. Durant is another easy sell.
4) Utah at Oklahoma City, 7 p.m.
Utah lost Carlos Boozer to free agency but picked up Al Jefferson from Minnesota and isn’t expected to miss a beat from last year’s 53-win season. Two of the smallest markets in the league doesn’t bode well, but there’s ample star power with Durant and Deron Williams and Russell Westbrook and Jefferson. And don’t forget the epic overtime battle these two teams gave us down the stretch of the regular season last year.
5) Oklahoma City at Chicago, 1:30 p.m.
The promos would sell the matchup of Durant versus Derrick Rose, two of the past three Rookie of the Year award winners. But it’s Westbrook vs. Rose, two of the best up-and-coming point guards, that is most enticing. Boozer, the Bulls’ new power forward, also will generate interest. And the Chicago market has enough television sets to carry the still under-the-radar Thunder.
Other possibilities: Atlanta, Clippers, Lakers (long shot), Phoenix, New Orleans, San Antonio.
And now my best guess at the five-game Christmas schedule:
Chicago at New York, 11 a.m.
Boston at Orlando, 1:30 p.m.
Miami at Lakers, 4 p.m.
Denver at Dallas, 7 p.m.
Oklahoma City at Portland, 9:30 p.m.
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Comments
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I prefer to stay home on Christmas day. If its watching the Thunder in an away game then fine, but not at home.
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I don’t understand the article. OKC is not in the list of 14 teams that warrant consideration for a Christmas game. If we don’t warrant consideration, why are we beint considered? It seems that we should be in the list of those being considered, with the year we had last year, the way we played the champs in the first round of the playoffs earlier this year, and the players we picked up this year.
would LOVE to have a Christmas home game in OKC.. would love to see that atmosphere! Santa Rumble would be awesome.