‘Welcome to Thunder’: NBA Finals fans brave OKC thunderstorm ahead of Game 1
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Fans waiting for the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers to tip off Game 1 of the NBA Finals Thursday were met with a literal thunderstorm.
News 4 sent a crew to Social Capital downtown for a watch party ahead of the game on Thursday. Late afternoon thunderstorms produced rain, wind, thunder, and lightning. It was a small blip for some Thunder fans who say they've waited since 2012 to see their team get so far.
"Welcome to Thunder, right?" said Thunder fan Travis Whitmer. “So, you might as well have the rain and the Thunder to bring, to bring them down in game one here.”
Pacers fans were just as patient with Mother Nature, but said they felt like Indiana had more of an underdog story to land a win in Game 1.
"I know we're both small market teams, but OKC has been the favorites, we’ve been the dogs,” said Pacers fan Jordan East.
Social Capital General Manager Ryan Noe told News 4 Thursday his business has seen a boom in patrons leading up to the game and on game day. Noe said the Thursday lunch crowd was triple what Social Capital typically sees.
“I mean, we've seen a huge uptick in business from the beginning of the Playoffs,” said Noe. “I mean, the regular season as well in general, but you can just tell like every series we advance, it's just gotten bigger and bigger."
Noe said on Thursday that he’s even had customers stop by from the other side of the world.
"I'll tell you, one surprised me,” said Noe. “Just a couple hours ago, we got a guy that flew in from Australia."
Noe expects things to be just as rowdy at Social Capital and for neighboring businesses for Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
The opening game of the NBA Finals on Thursday was an absolute nail-biter towards the end, but it was the Pacers who came away with the win in Game 1, winning 111-110 and now lead the series 1-0.
Tip-off for Game 2 is Sunday, June 8, at 7:00 p.m. from the Paycom Center. After that, the Thunder will hit the road to Indiana for games three and four.