The Pacers and Thunder are two young, fun teams that are led by marketable stars, but the TV ratings probably aren’t going to be good because the home markets are so small. Those who like

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.