It will be a raucous atmosphere on Thursday: Game 1 of the NBA Finals is coming to Oklahoma City, and the top-seeded Thunder — big favorites over the Indiana Pacers in this series — freely say that the fans have factored into the team’s success.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have been a winning machine all year. They went 68-14 in a historic regular season. That dominance has translated over to the playoffs with a 12-4 record. Everybody expects them to cap off one of the greatest years ever with an NBA championship.

A very real void has been left in the SuperSonics’ absence. The NHL’s Seattle Kraken entering the fold has helped, as has the success of the WNBA’s Seattle Storm, both of whom play at Climate Pledge Arena, which sits on the site of the SuperSonics’ former home.