Revisiting OKC Thunder's Last Christmas Day Game

The Oklahoma City Thunder was left off the Christmas Day slate for the sixth year in a row, last playing in 2018 against the Houston Rockets.

Dec 25, 2018; Houston, TX, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) handles the ball against the Houston Rockets during the fourth quarter at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images / Erik Williams-Imagn Images

Considering the Oklahoma City Thunder is at the top of the Western Conference with a dominant 23-5 record, it might be a little surprising to not see it play at all during Christmas Day.

The Thunder was left off one of the biggest days of the NBA schedule for the sixth year in a row, despite it proving itself as a force to be reckoned with a season ago. Only the Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets are representatives of the West with a top-six seed.

With another year without Oklahoma City basketball on the television during holiday festivities, what better time than to look back at the last time it happened?

T'was the afternoon of Dec. 25, 2018, inside the Toyata Center. The Thunder traveled on the road to face off against the Houston Rockets — a fellow perenial playoff team around the time. Coming into the matchup Oklahoma City had the better record at 21-12, compared to Houston's middling 18-15.

Still, the Rockets were a formidable matchup based on talent alone. James Harden had blossomed as an MVP contender since he had departed the Thunder a few years earlier, while Chris Paul's acquisition made for one of the top backcourts in the league. However, the veteran point guard missed this game due to a hamstring strain he suffered during the week.

At the time, Russell Westbrook and Paul George were still leading Oklahoma City. After a disappointing exit to the Utah Jazz in the 2018 playoffs, out went Carmelo Anthony and in came Dennis Schroder to lead the second unit. Much of the team looked the same, with Jerami Grant and Steven Adams commanding the frontcourt.

So what happened with these two forces clashed? Well, a messy offensive game to say the least.

Both teams put up a hefty amount of 3-point shots, and neither really executed. The Thunder finished with a 9-of-30 clip, while Houston didn't fare much better by going 14-of-44. They even struggled on the free-throw line, each shooting below 70% on a high volume of attempts.

The stars for Oklahoma City didn't shine, either. Westbrook put up a near triple-double of 21 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, but did it on 6-of-20 shooting from the field. George also struggled with efficiency, dropping 28 points and 14 rebounds on 10-of-25 shooting from the field.

What might go under the radar was a strong performance from Adams, who recorded 17 points and seven rebounds on 8-of-11 shooting. Although, Rockets center Clint Capela dominated on the glass, finishing with 16 points and 23 rebounds — including 10 offensive boards.

Those offensive boards translated to plenty of second chance opportunites, mostly going to Harden. While not a pretty performance, his 41 points, six rebounds and seven assists on 15-of-35 shooting was the clear best of the game. No matter how many shots it took, it was impressive nevertheless.

It was a close contest down the final stretch of the fourth quarter, but Houston ultimately came on top with an 113-109 win. From the 2:13 mark until there was 37.1 seconds remaining, the Thunder made it a 110-108 game instead of 110-103.

However, Harden's floater with 20.4 seconds remaining all but sealed the game for good. From there, it all just came down to free throws for the Rockets to get a win on their home floor.

Six years removed from the loss, it serves as a sort of time capsule for Oklahoma City. It's a far different team to what it's accustomed to now, with different stars at the helm and a widely different league surrounding it.

Maybe next year, the Thunder can play on Christmas again.

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