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Thunder vs Rockets Season Opener: Ring Night Made Personal

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As the defending champs, the Oklahoma City Thunder now get to play in the NBA’s opening day for the 2025-26 season. Intending to stir hype, the NBA played their cards right in selecting Oklahoma City’s opponent. It could have been the Denver Nuggets, one of their toughest rivals, and an instant MVP showdown. There’s also the Memphis Grizzlies or the Minnesota Timberwolves as added options.

Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28) handles the ball against Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren
Apr 4, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28) handles the ball against Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren (7) during the first quarter at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images

But no. The NBA wasted no time in picking the right opponent for OKC to face. They brought one of the big guns in the West, while also making the ring night personal. The Thunder vs Rockets season opener adds more drama to a rivalry revisited with OKC finally having its ring night with Kevin Durant present.

Thunder vs Rockets Season Opener: OKC Ring Night Made Personal

With the way things are going, it does seem that this opening night is going to be big. We’ve got the two faces of the Thunder, one in the past and one in the present. But with Houston also being one of the top teams last season, it was essential to set the showdown. Great work there, NBA.

The Thunder vs Rockets Opener is Bigger Than You Think

Houston is one of many teams that is starting to make its presence felt in the league. They had a very shiny offseason thanks to the massive trade that landed Durant on the roster. After finishing as the second seed last year, it is evident that the Rockets will likely become a stronger team after a year.

At this point, we have seen a lot of social media banter as to how Houston fared better than OKC in their respective rebuilds. Some argue that while the Thunder won a title, the Rockets are simply better long-term. It’s a developing discussion, and this season opener is quite a good start to this argument.

The men fact that we’re going to see Durant in Oklahoma City, witnessing the ring night for the Thunder, is a full-circle moment. Imagine the most hated man in Oklahoma shrugging it off with a smug smile.

The Durant-SGA Conversations

So the discussions on who is the greatest Thunder player of all time began as soon as they won the championship. By default, Durant would have a strong case given his impact on the franchise. But with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leading this team to a title, that discussion has been opened well since. To be fair, the Thunder star makes a strong case for this claim. He’s achieved a lot that Durant never did during his eight years in OKC. The mere fact that he left abruptly and has been bitter since then says quite a lot about the legitimacy of his Thunder GOAT claim.

Well, this season opener is a great way to ignite those conversations further. A Thunder vs Rockets showdown to begin the 2025-26 campaign will highlight the reigning MVP’s game against a former OKC MVP. Reigning scoring champion vs former Oklahoma City scoring champion. This is a budding rivalry that will go on for the whole season once it tips off on October 21.

The Cupcake Returns

Durant was definitely feeling the massive criticism as soon as he left OKC in 2016. Each trip Durant has seen in Oklahoma City saw him being rained down with boos. The “cupcake” moniker was born out of Durant being called a soft player for leaving the Thunder for the Golden State Warriors (whom OKC ended up losing to in the 2016 WCF).

With Durant returning to Oklahoma City at a time when they are celebrating their first championship banner is ironic. OKC fans were hoping to see him win in Thunder outfits, and that did not become a reality. My expectations? Probably one fan holding up a cupcake sign, and Durant getting a camera angle while the Thunder championship banner hangs at the top.

If you’re a Thunder fan from way before, chances are, you’ll be booing Durant too. We all know how it hurt a lot of die-hard fans back then, and some still haven’t moved on just yet. Still, Durant’s return to OKC’s banner night is going to be a huge story to look out for now more than ever.

Two Evenly-Matched Teams

The Thunder vs Rockets is a matchup designed in basketball heaven. Some are anticipating a first seed vs. second seed showdown in the previous playoffs. But now it’s an even better showdown to watch. It’s Durant vs SGA, Alperen Sengun vs Chet Holmgren, depth vs depth. In case you’re not seeing the bigger picture, Houston is following the Thunder’s rebuild pattern. They are even somewhat following the same roster build.

Hear me out. They went swinging after extending Steven Adams and signing Clint Capela. That’s a mirror of the OKC big man rotation, especially with Houston running with Sengun. Then there’s a lethal scorer in Durant, who arguably takes SGA’s role. Amen Thompson will be stepping up to be the second/third option as with Jalen Williams. Chet Holmgren is matching up Sengun’s role too.

Diving deeper into the bench, two highly-talented squads take center stage. The Rockets put up a promising challenge for OKC’s claims for a second championship moving forward.

What’s great about this is that these two teams will meet four times in the regular season. There’s a potential fifth showdown in the NBA Cup.

A Rivalry Renewed

We all know that the Thunder vs Rockets rivalry has been a thing since James Harden got traded in 2012. It had massive showdowns culminating in 2017, 2018, and even 2020. Both teams did well to endure rebuilds, and now it is taken one notch up with an opening night showdown. After all, Durant has yet to earn forgiveness for leaving Oklahoma City, so expect this showdown to be even bigger than most people think.

Photo credit: © Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

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