The Indiana Pacers experienced a flight delay on June 3 ahead of their highly anticipated basketball showdown at the 2025 NBA Finals.

The Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder will play Game 1 of the NBA Finals June 5 at 8:30 p.m. The game is taking place at the Paycom Center, Oklahoma City’s home court. According to ESPN, the Pacers’ chartered plane was diverted to Tulsa, where it paused to refuel. According to the source, the Indiana-repping team only arrived in Oklahoma City around 7 p.m. local time — an estimated three and a half hours late.

“The Pacers team plane circled due to the weather in Oklahoma City, and subsequently landed in Tulsa to refuel,” a team spokesperson told CNN. “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 reportedly added in an update.

Around an hour before the team’s arrival, Oklahoma City was under multiple inclement weather advisories. Per ESPN, the southwestern city was under “a tornado warning, flood watch, and severe thunderstorm watch.”

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On June 3, the Pacers’ X account shared footage of the “finals bound” team with their carry-ons. Several players rocked athleisure as their flight attire. The first and only other time the Pacers played in the NBA Finals was in 2000, against the Los Angeles Lakers. The latter team won that championship. Regarding the Thunder, the last time they played in the NBA Finals was 2012.

“You spend so much time thinking about getting there, but it’s like, you’re here now,” reportedly noted Pacers center Myles Turner before the team reached Oklahoma City. “You didn’t really spend a lot of time thinking about, ‘OK, when I’m here, I’m going to do this, I’m going to do that.’ It’s like, ‘Let’s just get there.'”

Viewers can watch the NBA Finals live via ABC. Tip-off is at 8:30 p.m. Eastern.

Air Travel, Delta Air Lines, Indiana, Oklahoma City, sports