The Oklahoma City Thunder is taking a page out of the world champion Seattle Seahawks playbook in one regard as it begins its postseason run.
Larry Brown Sports is reporting that the Thunder are restricting the areas of ticket sales to home playoff games. From the Thunder's official website:
"All Sales are INTERNET Only. *** VERY IMPORTANT !! *** Sales to the Oklahoma City Thunder, 2014 Home Playoff Games at Chesapeake Energy Arena, will be restricted to residents of Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri and Nebraska. Residency will be based on credit card billing address. Orders by residents outside of this area will be canceled without notice and refunds given. **PLEASE NOTE: This restriction does not apply to resale tickets."
That means fans in Memphis, the Thunder's first-round opponent, cannot purchase tickets for OKC home games.
The Seahawks employed the practice of restricting playoff tickets to residents of certain states to ensure that San Francisco 49ers fans could not attend the NFC Championship Game at Century Link Field in January.
Seattle defeated San Francisco 23-17 to advance to Super Bowl XLVIII. There, the Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos 43-8.
According to Larry Brown Sports, the Thunder are the only team to employ the ticket-sales restriction in the first round of the NBA playoffs. The website checked the official websites of the Grizzlies, defending world champion Miami Heat, Brooklyn Nets, Indiana Pacers, Houston Rockets and Atlanta Hawks, and none of those teams were restricting the areas in which tickets could be purchased.
The Grizzlies knocked out the Thunder during the Western Conference semifinals of the 2013 playoffs, after the Thunder had lost point guard Russell Westbrook to a season-ending injury in the opening-round series against the Houston Rockets.
Larry Brown Sports lauds the Thunder for its policy, as 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh did Seattle for its policy. However, it may be that the Thunder consider the Grizzlies more of a threat in the first round than the other NBA first-round favorites.
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