With 27 seconds left to play in the first half between the Clippers and Thunder Wednesday night at the Chesapeake Energy Arena, a Thunder storm (you can’t make this s**t up) led to a nearby power surge that knocked out the arena lights. They played the last 27 seconds in near darkness.
Here’s the Associated Press on the cause of the electrical malfunction in the “Energy” arena:
A power surge took out much of the lighting at Chesapeake Energy Arena late in the first half of the playoff game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night.
The lights went out with 27.2 seconds left. Clippers coach Doc Rivers and Thunder coach Scott Brooks agreed to finish out the half with the limited lighting. Oklahoma City led 61-56 at the break.
The power returned during halftime, which was extended by a few minutes to give the lights the necessary 15 minutes to return to full brightness.
A Thunder spokesman said it was not immediately clear what caused the problem.
So they played the last 27 seconds in some pretty dim lighting:
//platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js
And it still hadn’t been fully restored around the arena when they started the second half:
//platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js
The naming rights for the arena belong to one of the largest natural gas producers in the United States, and Aubrey McClendon, a former CEO and co-founder of Chesapeaker Energy is one of the owners of the Thunder.
How poetic is it that a basketball team named the Thunder, who play in a venue called the Chesapeake Energy Arena, lost power due to weather and a power surge?
Is this some hysterical metaphysical joke or what?
Follow Spencer on Twitter at @SpencerTyrel.
Follow Dime on Twitter at @DimeMag.
Become a fan of Dime Magazine on Facebook HERE.