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04/26 18:23 CDT Caitlin Clark revs up Pacers fans with pregame playoff
appearance in IndyCar replica
Caitlin Clark revs up Pacers fans with pregame playoff appearance in IndyCar
replica
By MICHAEL MAROT
AP Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) --- Caitlin Clark crashed the NBA's playoff party Friday
night --- and drew a standing ovation from her new home fans. Twice.
She's hoping to do it all over again in September in the same place.
The WNBA's No. 1 overall draft pick and Division I's career scoring leader
revved up a raucous Indiana Pacers crowd by pumping the accelerator of a
replica IndyCar before Game 3 against the Milwaukee Bucks.
It was Clark's first public appearance on the Gainbridge Fieldhouse court since
the Indiana Fever drafted her last week. Naturally, the nearly 17,000 fans
broke into loud applause for the city's newest superstar.
Clark did not speak but when she joined her new Fever teammates midway through
the second quarter to toss T-shirts into the stands, veteran guard Erica
Wheeler did.
"Playoffs!" Wheeler told the team's emcee when asked about this season's goal.
"We want to be doing this and we've got the pieces. We want it to look like
this every night."
Indiana just might make it look that way --- if it makes its first playoff
appearance since 2016.
But Clark's presence already has spurred a change. The Fever are already one of
the WNBA's hottest tickets --- as was the case during her college career at
Iowa when sellouts became the norm and television ratings hit record highs.
Ticket sales in Indiana already have spiked and before she's even played a pro
game, some teams including two-time defending WNBA champ Las Vegas have already
moved home games to larger venues.
Clark arrived in Indianapolis last Wednesday for an introductory news
conference, then returned home with her family to Iowa. She was back in town
Friday night for the Pacers; first home playoff game since April 21, 2019, and
will stick around for the start of training camp Sunday.
___
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
