Oklahoma City has arguably the best home-court advantage in the league, and that could easily come into play during its NBA Cup run.

On Wednesday night, the Thunder will play in their third game of the 2025 NBA Cup group stage, facing the Minnesota Timberwolves for the first time this season. In a rematch of the Western Conference Finals, the Thunder will be looking to get one step closer to clinching a spot in the knockout round and getting an opportunity to play for some big money again this year.

With the Thunder already establishing themselves as the best team in the NBA once again, their chances of making it to Vegas seem to be quite high. Although the Thunder simply being better than their opponents obviously makes a difference, the biggest factor for them could be as simple as getting to play at home.

Along with Wednesday night’s matchup in Oklahoma City against the Timberwolves, the Thunder will also get the Phoenix Suns in Paycom Center on Friday in the group stage finale. With both games looming large in the race for West Group A, a couple of Thunder wins would send them to the NBA Cup quarterfinals, likely as the top seed in the West.

After dominating at home throughout last season’s title run, it’s easy to see why the Thunder would love to play at home as much as possible. Entering their matchup against Minnesota, the Thunder are 8-0 at home this season, winning those games by an average of 18.9 points.

As the league’s only remaining undefeated home team, the Thunder will happily put that mark on the line in the NBA Cup quarterfinals if they take care of business in the group stage. With the potential quarterfinal matchup coming against a wild card team, there are several potential opponents for the Thunder, including some of the best teams in the West.

Of course, the Thunder are ready to face any opponent on any given night. While the Denver Nuggets could be a potential quarterfinal matchup, the LA Clippers could even be in play, so that wide range of opponent quality shouldn’t worry the Thunder much. 

Last season, the Thunder went 3-0 at home in NBA Cup games, including a quarterfinal matchup against the Dallas Mavericks, where the Thunder beat Luka Doncic in his final Thunder-Mavericks battle. Regardless of who the Thunder might face moving forward, getting that game at home could be the only factor that matters.