The plaza outside Vivint Smart Home Arena opened at 5:30 p.m., two and a half hours before the Thunder and the Jazz tipped off.
A half hour later, the streets were gridlocked with fans looking for parking and walking in hordes across the street. Several hundred had packed into the plaza, eating, drinking, watching cheerleaders and custom shoe designers, and making signs for the arena.
Jim Olson, the president of the arena, beamed as he walked through the scene on the warm Saturday evening. Just a year ago — before a $125 million renovation cleared the plaza of trees, doubled the number of doors and created a lot of space — the festivities weren’t logistically possible in the same way.