The Oklahoma City Thunder are set to host Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals, but their exact start date is still waiting on the Los Angeles-Houston series and the rest of the playoff bracket. Los Angeles leads Houston 3-2 heading into Game 6 tonight at 8:30 p.m. CT.
The Game 6 meeting between the Rockets and Lakers will stream on Prime Video, and Oklahoma City’s opening second-round date remains one of two possibilities: May 3 or May 5. If the series ends in six games and either Pistons-Magic or Cavaliers-Raptors also finishes in six, the Thunder’s opener stays on one of those dates. If the Lakers-Rockets series goes seven games, or if multiple series run longer, tipoff times and broadcast details for the second round have not yet been announced.
What is already fixed is the setting. Oklahoma City has home-court advantage in the second round and will open at home against the winner of the Los Angeles-Houston matchup. The Thunder’s opponent is not final yet because the first-round series is still active, and the Eastern Conference results can still affect when the West semifinal begins.
That is part of the NBA’s 2026 championship schedule, which was officially released with the Finals set to follow a traditional 2-2-1-1-1 format and air on ABC. San Antonio’s path is already set after Denver’s elimination, and the Spurs will face Minnesota in a series that opens in San Antonio. For Oklahoma City, though, the next step is tied to a game in Houston tonight and whatever the rest of the bracket does after that.