Caitlin Clark is the latest Indiana guard to give the infamous ‘choke’ signal at a Pacers game.
The injured WNBA star was seated with Fever teammates Natasha Howard and Aliyah Boston as the Indiana Pacers took a 2-1 NBA Finals lead over the favored Oklahoma City Thunder with a 116-107 win Game 3 win. And as has been the case throughout the Pacers’ playoff run, cameras continued looking to Clark for in-game reactions to the action.
For instance, she previously mocked Knicks star Jalen Brunson’s chin-stroking 3-point celebration during the Pacers’ Eastern Conference Finals upset of New York.
But on Wednesday, Clark went with a local favorite: the choke sign.
In a nod to franchise legend Reggie Miller’s infamous 1994 taunt of the Knicks and super fan Spike Lee, not to mention current team star Tyrese Haliburton, Clark busted out the familiar pantomime, although unlike her predecessors, she was smiling.
Miller famously flashed the choke signal to the award-winning director, Lee, amid a Game 5 rally in the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals. The Hall of Fame guard, who was also seated in the front row of Wednesday’s game, dropped 25 fourth-quarter points to give the pacers a 3-2 series edge before the Knicks won the next two to advance to the NBA Finals.
Caitlin Clark is the latest Indiana guard to give the infamous ‘choke’ signal at a Pacers game
Left, Miller is seen doing the choke sign in 1994, and, right, Haliburton does the same in May
Tyrese Haliburton #0 of the Indiana Pacers shoots the ball during Wednesday’s Game 3 win
Initially thinking he’d hit the game winner, Haliburton broke out the same celebration against the favored Knicks in this year’s Eastern Conference Finals after pushing Game 1 to overtime with a buzzer beater. The shot would have ended in regulation had Haliburton’s shoe not been on the line, but the Pacers pulled away in overtime so his ‘choke’ celebration wasn’t a complete misfire.
Clark took a similar risk by using the choke sign on Wednesday, as many fans were quick to point out.
‘Yea this isn’t going to end well if OKC wins,’ one fan remarked on X.
‘That ain’t gonna age well,’ another added.
Several others wrote some version of: ‘nahh if the Pacers lose after this…’
Once again, the Pacers overcame a lead for the win, although this one was only nine points.
Haliburton and Pascal Siakam combined for 43 points in the win, but it was Indiana’s bench that proved to be the story of the game as Bennedict Mathurin finished with a game-high 27 off the pine.
The Thunder’s Chet Holmgren struggled, missing all six of his attempts from deep, while Oklahoma City guard Alex Caruso was a -15 in 32 minutes off the bench.
Game 4 is Friday night in Indianapolis, where the Pacers can take a 3-1 series lead.
