Year of Game 7 in NBA Playoffs

Oklahoma City is set to host San Antonio in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals on Saturday night. This marks the fifth instance of Game 7 in this year’s playoffs. Other teams who’ve reached Game 7 include Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Detroit.

These five occurrences tie the record for the most Game 7s in a single postseason. Similar situations occurred in 1994, 2014, and 2016. This season could set a new record if San Antonio wins, as there have never been three Game 7 road winners in the same season.

Home teams have won 117 out of 159 Game 7s in NBA playoffs history.

Game 7 Records

Examining Game 7 histories for Oklahoma City and San Antonio:

• Oklahoma City Thunder: 4-2 overall, 4-0 at home since moving to the city. Recent wins were by double digits, with an average margin of 17.5 points. Losses occurred on the road.
• San Antonio Spurs: 4-7 overall, 1-5 on the road. Their only road win in Game 7 was in New Orleans in 2008.

Game 7 Birthday Matters

Spurs forward Harrison Barnes will celebrate his 34th birthday on Saturday. Historically, players haven’t lost Game 7 on their birthdays:

• Paul George turned 36; Philadelphia defeated Boston.
• Barnes, on his 24th birthday, won against Oklahoma City.
• Other successful birthday Game 7 instances include Pablo Prigoni, Udonis Haslem, Kevin Garnett, Scott Hastings, and Walt Hazzard.

Best-of-12 Season Series

This weekend marks the 12th clash between Oklahoma City and San Antonio this season. San Antonio leads 7-4 in their encounters.

The last time teams met 12 times in a season was in 1994-95 with San Antonio and Houston. The league limits regular-season meetings to four, but the NBA Cup allows for more matchups.

Historically, the record for head-to-head meetings remains unbroken. The Minneapolis Lakers and St. Louis Hawks played 20 times in both 1959-60 and 1960-61 seasons.