The Indiana Pacers had a much longer travel day than expected Tuesday en route to Oklahoma City for the start of the NBA Finals, as their charter plane was diverted to Tulsa, Oklahoma, due to severe weather.
“We might as well have traveled to Portland or something,” Pacers’ star Tyrese Haliburton said Wednesday at NBA Finals media day.
The National Weather Service confirmed at least one tornado in Norman, less than 30 miles south of Oklahoma City, around 5 p.m. local time. The Pacers departed Indianapolis shortly after 3 p.m. ET and were scheduled to be in the air for about two and a half hours, with an expected arrival in Oklahoma City around 4:30 p.m. local time. The unexpected detour turned the trip into a five-hour journey — doubling their travel time.
“We took off and I slept the whole plane ride, which I don’t normally do,” Haliburton said. “We landed and I was ready to get up and they said we were in Tulsa. … It was a long travel day, but what can you do? None of us can control the weather. There’s worse problems in life. We’ll be fine.”
This year’s NBA Finals marks a long-awaited return for both franchises. The Pacers are back on the league’s biggest stage for the first time since 2000, when they lost in six games to the Los Angeles Lakers. It is only Indiana’s second Finals appearance since joining the NBA in 1976 after the ABA–NBA merger.
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“I’m excited to be here, obviously,” Haliburton said. “The Finals is a very special thing and something I’ve wanted to be a part of my whole life. So to be here means the world and I’m just taking it all in, soaking it all in. Really excited for this moment.”
The Thunder, meanwhile, haven’t reached the Finals since 2012, when a young Oklahoma City core led by Kevin Durant, James Harden and Russell Westbrook fell to the Miami Heat in five games. The franchise’s only NBA title came in 1979, back when the team was the Seattle SuperSonics.
Game 1 Thursday is scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m. ET at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.
