Reigning champion Thunder open with upbeat Rockets

The Oklahoma City Thunder open the defense of their first NBA title Tuesday night when they host the Houston Rockets.

The Thunder return almost all of their roster from last season's team that won 68 games in the regular season, posted the best scoring margin in league history and ultimately beat Indiana in seven games in the NBA Finals.

Before the game, the Thunder will hold a ring ceremony honoring the title team.

"I can't wait," reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. "Just to have the official piece of hardware that I dreamed about for so many years from my childhood and growing up."

Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said locking in on the game could be an issue.

"A great thing for everybody, the fans, and everything," Daigneault said. "But it is a distraction. You've gotta compartmentalize your distractions and be ready to go when the ball goes up in the air."

Oklahoma City's biggest offseason focus was securing its young core - Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren - to contract extensions.

The Rockets, meanwhile, made some significant moves to try to challenge at the top of the Western Conference after returning to the playoffs last season for the first time since 2020 but exiting in the first round.

The biggest of those was the blockbuster trade that landed Kevin Durant from the Phoenix Suns.

Durant was the first superstar of the Thunder franchise, playing eight seasons in Oklahoma City after the franchise moved from Seattle following his rookie season.

Durant recently signed a two-year, $90 million extension that potentially keeps him in Houston at least for next season and includes a player option for 2027-28.

"I'm glad we can get that out of the way, won't have to worry about external noise throughout the season if I didn't have a contract signed," Durant said. "So just worry about basketball., and focus on the season."

The Rockets are expected to go with one of the biggest starting lineups of all-time Tuesday, starting big men Alperun Sengun and Steven Adams in part to counter Oklahoma City's inside duo of Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein.

Houston will also start Jabari Smith Jr., Amen Thompson and Durant.

While Thompson is 6-foot-7, the other four are all listed at 6-foot-11.

In Houston's recent preseason game against New Orleans, the group outscored the Pelicans by 16 in just more than 12 minutes together.

"This is personnel driven and opponent driven as well," Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. "So not just about what they did, although they were good in their minutes, but it's obviously a lot to do with OKC as well."

Durant wasn't the only significant offseason addition for Houston.

The Rockets also added Dorian Finney-Smith to help fill the void left by Dillon Brooks' departure in the Durant trade. Jalen Green also went to Phoenix.

Finney-Smith, though, will miss Tuesday's game as he continues to recover from an offseason ankle surgery.

The Thunder will be without Kenrich Williams (knee) and Nikola Topic (testicular procedure) to start the regular season.

Alex Caruso (ankle), Isaiah Joe (knee) and Ajay Mitchell (ankle) were banged up late in the preseason and their status for Tuesday's opener is unclear.

Jalen Williams is still recovering from offseason surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right wrist and did not appear in a preseason game.

The Thunder won three of the five meetings between the teams last season, including both meetings in Oklahoma City.

--Field Level Media