Caitlin Clark's Fever, Tyrese Haliburton's Pacers more than just Indy neighbors

Caitlin Clark is doubly disappointed about how the NBA Finals are going right now. One, the Indiana Pacers lost Game 4. Two, Clark can’t be there for Game 6.

Clark and the Indiana Fever have a good reason why they won’t be at the Pacers’ last home game of the season on Thursday, when Indiana — which will be either up 3-2 or down 3-2 to the Oklahoma City Thunder by then, depending on how Game 5 on Monday night goes — plays host to Game 6 of the NBA Finals.

The Fever will be at Golden State that night, playing the expansion Valkyries.

"I was hoping they'd win it in five," Clark said.

That can't happen now. But somehow, some way, the Fever will be paying some sort of attention to what’s going on at home on Thursday night. The Pacers and Fever aren’t just neighbors. They’re basically basketball family. They have the same ownership, play their games in the same building, cross paths with each other all the time.

And they rave about one another, with players from one team almost always cheering on the other.

"I think young kids, if you watch basketball, you turn on and watch the Pacers," Clark said. "It’s unselfish. They play for each other. They play fast. They play up-tempo. They do things the right way. Whether you’re a starter or whether you’re coming off the bench, you’re giving everything you can to your team. It’s really fun to watch."

Much has been made of how this is a special time for basketball in basketball-mad Indianapolis, and the Pacers and Fever are both reveling in it.

The Pacers played host to the 2024 NBA All-Star Game and went to the Eastern Conference finals last season. The Fever flipped how many people think about the WNBA last season in Clark’s rookie year, with swarms flocking to their games — home and