NBA Releases OKC Thunder's 2021-22 Regular Season Schedule

The NBA released its 2021-22 regular season schedule out to the masses Friday afternoon, and yes, that includes the upcoming slate for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

A year after a shortened 72-game regular season slate, the league is back to its typical 82-game schedule just in time for its 75th anniversary celebration.

Schedule Release Day used to be a highly-anticipated date in Oklahoma. The Thunder regularly fielded a top-level roster and visions of championship glory danced in fans' heads.

Times are different now. Guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is now the franchise's unquestioned leader thanks to a shiny, new contract extension. Meanwhile, the rest of the roster's core is made up of players old enough to play in Norman or Stillwater rather than Bricktown.

Similar to a season ago, Oklahoma City will start its season on the road, this time for two games. The Thunder will face last year's top seed in the Western Conference (Wednesday, Oct. 20 vs. Utah Jazz) followed by a fellow bottomfeeder in the standings (Friday, Oct. 22 vs. Houston Rockets).

OKC will host the Philadelphia 76ers (Sunday, Oct. 24) in its home opener at the recently-rechristened Paycom Center. The matchup will also be the team's first home regular season game in front of fans since March 11, 2020 when OKC's matchup against the Utah Jazz was postponed, spurring a series of cancelations and postponements across North America due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bally Sports Oklahoma will broadcast all 82 regular season games on television. If you don't access to Bally Sports Oklahoma, plan accordingly.

The Thunder will play on NBA TV just four times this season, against the San Antonio Spurs (6 p.m. CT, Sunday, Nov. 7), No. 1 overall pick and ex-OSU Cowboy Cade Cunningham's Detroit Pistons (6 p.m. CT, Monday, Dec. 6), Cleveland Cavaliers (7 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022) and Orlando Magic (5 p.m., Sunday, March 20, 2022).

In yet another interesting quirk, the Thunder will end its season against the Los Angeles Clippers (Sunday, April 10) for the second time in two years.

You can find a full link to OKC's schedule here.