The modern iteration of the city, of course, is not just shaped by its urban renewal, but by the never-healing scar of being subject to the worst domestic terrorist attack in U.S. history — the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995, which killed 168 people.

The young team’s rise has been fuelled by a happy chemistry. But, after a Game One loss in the N.B.A. Finals, will it be enough?

Game 1 of the NBA Finals could have been an especially crushing defeat for a young Oklahoma City Thunder team had they not dealt with nearly the exact same scenario earlier in these same playoffs