Reggie Miller, Tyrese Haliburton and now … Caitlin Clark.
Sitting courtside at Gainbridge Fieldhouse for Sport 3 of the NBA Finals, the Fever guard turned the newest Indiana basketball celebrity to invoke Miller’s legendary choke celebration — even when she wasn’t taking part in within the recreation herself.
When cameras panned to Clark in the course of the first half, the Iowa product couldn’t resist doing the celebration, which Miller famously used to taunt the Knicks after his Pacers received Sport 5 of the 1994 Jap Convention finals.
Haliburton paid homage to that legendary second in Sport 1 of this yr’s convention finals towards the Knicks, pulling it out after hitting his ridiculous shot that compelled time beyond regulation and led to an eventual Indiana win.
At this level, the celebration is synonymous not simply with Miller however with the Pacers and Indiana basketball as a complete.
Clark breaking it out might have been untimely, because the Pacers and Thunder had been locked in a back-and-forth battle for many of the recreation, however Indiana got here via with a 116-107 win behind a terrific fourth quarter.
Nonetheless, the choke celebration might need been extra apt in the course of the Pacers’ gorgeous Sport 1 win in Oklahoma Metropolis, with Indiana trailing by double digits for a lot of the sport earlier than storming again late and stealing a 111-110 win on a go-ahead jumper from Haliburton with 0.3 seconds remaining.
Clark has been sidelined with a left quad pressure since Could 24, however the 23-year-old — who’s shut buddies with Haliburton — has made loads of cameos at Gainbridge Fieldhouse all through the Pacers’ run to the Finals.
In actual fact, Indiana is 8-0 in playoff video games this yr with Clark in attendance.
Clark could have a possibility to make one other look at Sport 4 on Friday night time, when Indiana will look to take a commanding 3-1 sequence lead towards the Thunder.
And maybe Clark will escape the choke celebration as soon as she returns to the courtroom with the upstart Fever, who’re hoping for their very own magical playoff run in September.
