OKC to play on Christmas against the Nuggets

A few schedule notes for the Thunder:

• The Thunder will play Denver Christmas Day at 7 p.m. CT in Oklahoma City. The game is scheduled to be on ESPN.

• Oklahoma City will play Utah Oct. 31 (dress like Tony Brothers for Halloween!) at the Ford Center. That game will be on NBATV and is at 6 CT.

• The Thunder will take on the Lakers on Martin Luther King Jr. Day at 9:30 CT at the Staples Center in LA.

• The opening night game against the Bulls set for Oct. 27 will be televised on ESPN at 7 CT.

• KD’s reaction to the Christmas game: “Just found out we’re gonna play a Christmas game against Denver inside the Ford Center at 7 p.m. Games gonna be on ESPN. Big for us! THUNDERUP!”

Obviously the rest of the schedule will be out next week and OKC will have some more national TV dates mixed in there. But there’s a theme here: The Thunder will be one of the most visible teams this year. A major national TV game against Denver, then another against the Lakers, plus part of ESPN’s season kickoff. Good stuff.