With the 2025 NBA Finals headed to Indianapolis for the first time in 25 years, the Indiana Pacers have a golden opportunity to regain momentum after suffering a 123-107 defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 2. Pacers fans are a passionate and loud bunch, and Gainbridge Fieldhouse is going to be rocking for Game 3 — and especially so, when one of Indiana's current sporting icons, Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever, is in the building.

In fact, whenever Clark has been in attendance for a Pacers game in this year's playoffs, good things tend to happen. As pointed out by the official ClutchPoints account on X (formerly Twitter), Indiana has gone 7-0 in the 2025 NBA playoffs whenever Clark is in the building.

Ever since she was drafted first overall by the Fever in 2024, Clark has been nothing but a positive presence for Indiana sports in general. She transformed the Fever from a team bad enough to win the first overall pick of the draft to a playoff team, all in her rookie campaign. She seems to have this good luck charm wherever she goes, and even the Pacers, evidently, have been benefitting from it all playoffs long.

And it looks like Clark's presence has already made an immediate impact for the Pacers in Game 3. In the first two games, the Pacers fell down by double digits against the Thunder in the first half. This time around, however, the Pacers have dictated the pace in the first half and have been keeping in step with OKC. Even the comeback kids need a breather here and there, and it's a promising sign that Indiana doesn't have to produce some black magic yet again just to have a shot at a win against the league's best team this season.

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Pacers give the Thunder a dose of their own medicine in Game 3's first half

Indiana Pacers guard T.J. McConnell (9) drives to the basket against the Atlanta Hawks in the fourth quarter at State Farm Arena.
Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The Thunder were starting to pull away towards the end of the first quarter. It was looking to be more of the same through the first three games of the 2025 NBA Finals. But the Pacers pulled an uno reverse card on the Thunder and forced a plethora of turnovers and mistakes — thanks in large part to TJ McConnell's incredible defense.

This is exactly the kind of energy the Pacers have to play with if they were to take back control of the series and take advantage of the fact that they stole one game on the road.