Denver Fans Blocked From Buying Tickets to Nuggets-Thunder Games in OKC

The Denver Nuggets and the Oklahoma City Thunder are engaged in a battle of attrition in the Western Conference Semifinals of the NBA Playoffs, and the Thunder are playing extra defense off the court.

When the Nuggets traveled to Oklahoma City for games one and two at the Paycom Center, Denver fans weren't allowed to follow their team to the Sooner State, according to upset fans on social media. And that remains true for game five: Ticketmaster limits which zip codes people can be from for attendance at Paycom Center playoff matchups, only allowing people with billing addresses in Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri and Nebraska to buy tickets.

Theoretically, this could give the Thunder more of a home-court advantage with more fans. But through four games so far, the series is tied, 2-2, and both the Nuggets and Thunder have won away games.

Despite the ticket blockade, the Kroenke family is sending two fans to every away game as part of a Fan Flyaway contest where contestants play pop-a-shot outside Union Station. The winner and a friend immediately get to hop on the A Line to the Denver International Airport before flying to the game, so at least there will be two Nuggets supporters in every sea of Thunder fans.

Ticketmaster has no such restrictions for Denver games, allowing Oklahomans to flood Ball Arena if they wanted to. Even that may not phase the Nuggets, who beat the Los Angeles Clippers in a game seven matchup ten days ago despite Clippers owner Steve Ballmer flying out over 100 fans and getting them seats right behind one of the baskets for the game.

And if Nuggets fans really want to go to a game in Oklahoma it appears buying a ticket through a non-Ticketmaster site on the resale market is possible. In our tests, neither StubHub or SeatGeak mentioned any restrictions on billing zip codes even after we put in payment information with a Denver zip code.

Still, as the Thunder and Nuggets face off for game five tonight, May 13, it seems there will be a concerted effort not to let fans from Colorado in the building.

Thunder fans are known for being extremely compliant with in-arena requests for fan participation, putting on every t-shirt that's passed out for a unified look. Some online say this rocks, others say it screams 'sheeple' and look down on the Thunder fans.

Maybe Denver fans would just mess up the aesthetic too much?