The trip to their first NBA Finals in 25 years wasn’t as smooth as the Pacers hoped it would be, as their travel plans were affected on Tuesday by severe weather. Not only did their charter flight got diverted to Tulsa, but then they had to refuel and land in Oklahoma City almost four hours later.
The flight had to be diverted as the airport’s arrivals and departure were interrupted by winds and heavy rain. Both teams are scheduled to appear at the NBA Finals media day this Wednesday at the stadium that is set to host Game 1 on Thursday evening, which is the Pacers first finals appearance since 2000 and the first for the Thunder since in 13 years.
“You spend so much time thinking about getting there, but it’s like, you’re here now,” big man Myles Turner said before his squad left Indianapolis. “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.’ So now, that milestone has been achieved. It’s about doing something with the opportunity.”
25 years had to go by since the last time the Pacers made it to the NBA Finals, as Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam led the charge in Game 6 to guarantee their ticket after beating the Knicks on Saturday night. The Eastern Conference Finals ended 4-2 in Indiana‘s favor.
While their big man dropped in 31 points, and his co-star hit 11 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, the home squad defeated New York 125-108. This is now only their second time in franchise history that they’ve qualified for the final stages, as they first trip happened in 2000.
The series against Oklahoma City will start this upcoming Thursday evening. “Pascal and Tyrese put us on their backs and made sure we would not lose,” said coach Rick Carlisle about the last minutes of Game 6 against the Knicks. “But our work has just begun.”
While Siakam earned himself the Larry Bird Trophy as the Eastern Conference finals MVP, Haliburton also contributed with 13 assists and Obi Toppin added 18 points and six rebounds against his former squad this weekend.
