OKC Thunder: Games on the 2018-19 schedule that may not be noticed

Here are some games that may not be noticed on the OKC Thunder 2018-19 schedule.

The Oklahoma City Thunder will open the season against the Golden State Warriors in a game where the Warriors will be presented with their rings. For the OKC Thunder it will be the usual Kevin Durant–Russell Westbrook matchup.

That and the celebration of the Warriors achieving another championship.

The Thunder also have a Christmas Day game against the Houston Rockets. They played last year on Christmas and won on their home court 112-107. This time it will be away and the Rockets will have Carmelo Anthony on their roster.

That will not be the first time they meet though. The Thunder will face the Rockets on Nov. 8 on their home floor. That will be the game the Thunder welcome Carmelo back.

While those contest are big time games on the schedule, there are some matchups on the schedule that may not be seen as marquee but will be interesting.

The OKC Thunder will face the Atlanta Hawks on Nov. 20 at home. It will be the first game the Atlanta Hawks have been back to OKC after Westbrook hit a game winning 3-pointer with 1.7 seconds left to go in the fourth on Dec 22.

The Thunder went on a six-game winning streak, which would be their second-longest such streak of last season.

The Sacramento Kings fell victim to Westbrook’s exploits when he hit a game-winner on them on Feb. 22 on their home floor. The Thunder will be back in town for the first time on Nov. 19.

The Thunder’s season was filled of epic games. None were more epic than the three-overtime thriller against the Philadelphia 76ers.

On Dec. 15, the Thunder went into Philadelphia to face the young and rising Sixers. It was a close game between two opponents that were evenly matched. It took three overtimes to decide a winner in which the Thunder won finally at the end 119-117.

The game sparked a rivalry between Joel Embiid and Westbrook. In the first overtime Embiid blocked Westbrook and trash talked Carmelo Anthony. Embiid proceeded to encourage the crowd to commence the famous “Trust the Process” chants.

After a bad shooting night for Westbrook in which he went 10-for-33 he said he was, via USA Today, “Just trusting it.”

Westbrook also told Embiid to “go home” after the game was over and both teams were walking off the court; insinuating that Embiid was not worthy to be on the court.

This will be an interesting matchup and it will be on the national stage again. The Thunder go back to Philadelphia on Jan. 19.

The Thunder go into Boston for the first time since their March 21 meltdown on Feb. 3. That game will be nationally televised also.

The Thunder had a six-point lead with 24.7 seconds left to go in the fourth, but when they were not able to hit free throws (the Thunder hit 1-of-4), the Thunder were not able to hold on to the lead.

Finally, the Thunder will play the team that knocked them out of the playoffs in the Jazz for the first time on Dec. 10.

The Thunder had a chance to tie the game in the fourth quarter of Game 6 when it was 94-91 with less than a minute to go and were not able to convert. A game that ends the season like that would more than certainly have you itching to start the next season.

That game will be interesting because the Thunder have a new-look team, while the Jazz did next to nothing in free agency but re-sign Derrick Favors and Dante Exum and acquire Grayson Allen in the draft.

Knocking off the Jazz will be one of those games that if you can get it then it will boost the moral of the team during a long season.