Indiana Pacers’ team flight to NBA Finals takes a detour due to tornado warning in Oklahoma City
By Kevin Dotson, CNN
(CNN) — The Indiana Pacers’ journey to the NBA Finals was never going to be easy, but it got a little more complicated Tuesday, and it had nothing to do with basketball.
The team’s flight bound for Oklahoma City for a Game 1 tilt with the Thunder was detoured by literal thunder and forced to land in Tulsa, Oklahoma, due to a tornado warning in the capital Tuesday afternoon.
“The Pacers team plane circled due to the weather in Oklahoma City and subsequently landed in Tulsa to re-fuel,” a representative for the team said.
The Pacers have since told CNN that the team jet has departed Tulsa to complete its journey to Oklahoma City.
“We’re appreciative of the efforts made by the Delta pilots and crew, and hope everyone in Oklahoma City and the surrounding affected areas remained safe,” the team said in its updated statement.
CNN has reached out to the NBA for comment on the situation.
The Pacers are playing for a championship for the first time since 2000, when the team lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the franchise’s one and only NBA Finals appearance.
The Pacers’ path to the Finals included victories over the Milwaukee Bucks, the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers, and a six-game defeat of the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Thunder meanwhile are appearing in their first NBA Finals since 2012, where they lost to the Miami Heat. The franchise’s only NBA championship came in 1979, when the team was known as the Seattle SuperSonics.
The Western Conference’s No. 1 seed, the Thunder, advanced to the Finals with a sweep against the Memphis Grizzlies, a seven-game epic against the Denver Nuggets, and most recently a five-game win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The best-of-seven NBA Finals begins with Game 1 Thursday night in Oklahoma City.
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CNN’s Angela Fritz contributed to this report
