The Indiana Pacers returned to the NBA Finals after 25 years, but encountered an emergency when they set out for the final battle. Bad weather forced the team's flight to divert and was delayed for more than three hours.

According to reports, the Indiana Pacers were originally scheduled to fly to Oklahoma City on Tuesday afternoon, but encountered severe thunderstorms and tornado warnings on the way, and the charter plane had to be temporarily diverted to Tulsa Airport about 120 miles away.

After refueling in Tulsa, the flight bypassed another storm area and finally landed in Oklahoma City around 7 p.m. local time. When the Indiana Pacers arrived, the weather had cleared.

However, earlier, the Weather Bureau had issued a tornado warning, flood watch and severe thunderstorm warning for Oklahoma City and surrounding areas, affecting the takeoff and landing of many flights at the airport, and the flight that the Indiana Pacers were on was unable to arrive on time.

It is worth mentioning that at least one tornado was witnessed in Norman, about 20 miles south of Oklahoma City, on Tuesday afternoon, near the University of Oklahoma campus. It is not clear whether it caused any substantial damage.

The Indiana Pacers and the home team Oklahoma City Thunder will attend the Finals Media Day on Wednesday, and the first game of the series will officially start at the Thunder's home court on Thursday night. This is the first time the Indiana Pacers have entered the Finals since 2000, and the last time the Oklahoma City Thunder advanced was in 2012.