Thunder’s Upcoming Schedule Should Lead to 5-0 Start

The Oklahoma City Thunder have gotten off to an impressive 2-0 start to the 2026-27 NBA season, with wins over the San Antonio Spurs and Denver Nuggets, two of the best teams in the Western Conference. Both are teams that, in theory, could compete with Oklahoma City for a championship this season, but the Thunder managed to win both contests comfortably.

Now, the schedule actually eases up a bit. Oklahoma City's next three games include the LA Clippers on Sunday, followed by the Phoenix Suns on Monday, both at home, before traveling to Dallas for a matchup against the Mavericks on Wednesday. In each of those three contests, the Thunder should be heavy favorites, especially considering how they've played through the first two games of the season.

Of course, nothing is guaranteed in the NBA, and Oklahoma City will still need to bring its best effort every night. But the Thunder have a very clear path to a 5-0 start before the schedule gets more difficult again. Next Saturday, on Halloween, Oklahoma City will face the Houston Rockets, another team that has looked like a legitimate championship contender early in the season. Houston is also off to a 2-0 start, including an impressive win over San Antonio.

Following that matchup with Houston, the Thunder will face the Cleveland Cavaliers in back-to-back contests, making for a much more challenging stretch of games. Both the Rockets and Cavaliers have the talent to compete with Oklahoma City, and those matchups should provide another early test of just how good this Thunder team can be.

For now, though, Oklahoma City's next three games present a great opportunity to continue building momentum while potentially allowing some of the younger players to spread their wings and take on bigger roles. The Thunder have already proven they can beat some of the best teams in the league, and now they'll have a chance to take care of business against teams they should beat before the schedule tightens back up.

With how competitive San Antonio is expected to be this season in the standings, it’s not going to be a cakewalk for the Thunder to simply waltz to the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. And so this is the first point in the season where the schedule presents a clearly manageable stretch followed by a much tougher group of contests. That’s generally how NBA schedules go, but at least for the next couple of weeks, there’s a clear distinction between the level of competition Oklahoma City will face, making it even more important to take advantage of these next three games.