By OLIVER SALT
Published: 08:42 EDT, 4 June 2025 | Updated: 08:42 EDT, 4 June 2025
The Indiana Pacers were forced to make an emergency landing while flying to Oklahoma for their NBA Finals opener against the Thunder, according to reports.
Rick Carlisle's men departed Indiana almost 48 hours before Game 1 at Paycom Center this Thursday, where the likes of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren will await.
Yet according to Sports Illustrated'sChris Mannix, the Pacers' team plane was initially unable to land in Oklahoma on Tuesday night due to a tornado warning.
Instead, the flight reportedly had to circle the area before diverting to Tulsa - which is 132 miles north of Oklahoma - to refuel before it was deemed safe to take off again.
Indiana's players and staff eventually landed safely in Oklahoma near 7pm local time, Mannix later reported.
The Pacers will hope that slight travel hiccup is not a sign of things to come as they bid to land the franchise's first ever NBA Championship over the coming weeks.
The Pacers had to make an emergency landing while flying to Oklahoma for the NBA Finals
Tyrese Haliburton and his teammates initially landed in Tulsa because of a tornado warning
In the previous round they got the better of the New York Knicks to become Eastern Conference champions for the first time since 2000, with Saturday's Game 6 victory at Gainbridge Fieldhouse handing them a conclusive 4-2 series win.
Standing in their way in the finals, however, is a Thunder outfit brimming with confidence after destroying the Minnesota Timberwolves to become Western Conference champions.
And Pacers star man Tyrese Haliburton is happy with being labeled the underdogs by most.
'As long as the guys in our locker room, the people in this building believe, then anything is possible,' Haliburton told reporters Tuesday.
'So, we're really excited about the challenge. It's a really good team in front of us, and no "expert" or analyst is going to pick us [to win] and that's okay. We like it better that way.
'It's going to be a lot of fun.'