Pacers’ arrival to OKC delayed three hours by storms

Thunderstorms and tornados force Pacers to divert flight, delay arrival in Oklahoma City for NBA Finals. They are now on the ground.

Tyrese Haliburton wore his new signature PUMA shirt — Overrate That — on the flight to OKC. (Photo: PS&E)

The Indiana Pacers are now on the ground in Oklahoma City after storms delayed their arrival by about three hours.

They departed Indianapolis shortly after 3 p.m. ET for what was scheduled to be a flight lasting about two and a half hours.

Instead, the team’s Delta Boeing 757-200 circled twice and then diverted to Tulsa, where they spent about an hour — presumably to refuel and wait out the storms.

From there, they departed at 6:45 p.m. ET and the pilot flew the team south, maneuvering around a severe thunderstorm watch and reported tornados in the Oklahoma City area.

The Pacers’ original flight plane, showing how they circled the area twice before landing at Tulsa. (Photo: Flight Aware)

According to flight data, the plane landed at Will Rogers International Airport at 7:58 p.m. ET — five hours after takeoff, about twice as long as the expected flight time.

That’s about 48 hours before Game 1 of the NBA Finals: 8:30 p.m. ET on Thursday.

They’ll spend the next five nights in OKC, with games on Thursday and Sunday.

Before then, both teams will practice at Paycom Center on Wednesday and hold a 45-minute media availability.

The team shared the following pre-flight photos on Instagram.