OKC Thunder Clinch Home Court Advantage in First Round of NBA Playoffs

The Oklahoma City Thunder clinched home-court advantage for the first round in the Western Conference Playoffs on Sunday with a win over the Hornets.

Apr 19, 2019; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Sunset Orange Thunder Up! T-shirts cover the seats of / Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder (53-25) have clinched home-court advantage in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs following their win against the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday which snapped a three-game skid.

While the Western Conference playoff picture will remain up in the air until the final days of the regular season, the Thunder know one thing: They will play the first two games of the series at home with the deciding game seven in the Paycom Center in necessary.

The Thunder have shot past their win-total projection with Vegas setting the line at 44.5 victories while improving on last season's mark by already 13 games with four still to play.

This should put Mark Daigneault in the driver's seat to grab The Coach of the Year Award and marks the first time the Thunder have hosted a playoff series since 2017-18 against the Utah Jazz when Oklahoma City was ousted in the first round in six games.

As of today, the Oklahoma City Thunder would face the Phoenix Suns in a battle of the three versus six seed. So far in the regular season, the Thunder have gone 3-0 against the Suns.

The Thunder's series will begin on either April 20 or 21 in the Paycom Center with tickets going on sale on April 15 at 10 AM CT. Oklahoma City will soon have signage and tee shirts draped over chairs for their arrival back to the postseason, the first time with this young core.

Up next, the Oklahoma City Thunder will host the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday to open up a four-game home stand to conclude the regular season.

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