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Pacers players Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner plus coach Rick Carlisle discuss Indiana Fever, Caitlin Clark season

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Pacers players Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner plus coach Rick Carlisle discuss Indiana Fever, Caitlin Clark season


INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark are the talk of the town in Indianapolis, and that extends to the NBA team they share an area with.

The Indiana Pacers also call Gainbridge Fieldhouse home. Both teams showed tremendous growth in 2024 — the Pacers reached the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in a decade while the Fever earned a postseason spot — somewhere they haven’t been since 2016. Basketball is ascending in the Circle City.

Both groups support each other. Many Fever players attended Pacers playoff games in the spring, and several Pacers players were courtside for Fever action in the fall. Clark was on her Rookie of the Year run with the likes of Tyrese Haliburton, Obi Toppin, Aaron Nesmith, Rick Carlisle, and Myles Turner watching.

Last week, Clark and the Fever were eliminated from the playoffs. They fell 0-2 to the Connecticut Sun, and Game 2 came down to the wire. Their season ended earlier than they hoped.

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Now, it’s time for the Pacers to take center stage. With the blue and gold holding media day on Monday, some members of the team shared their thoughts on the Fever’s season and success.

“What the Fever did this year, that was incredible. As someone who’s been going to Fever games for the past 10 years now, just the environment that was in there, the new life that was in there, was incredible,” Turner said. “And something that’s only going to grow. For a team that wasn’t even in contention for the playoffs to come through and get to that first round and have that experience with three younger players was fun to watch.”

The Fever went 20-20 — they won 30 games the prior four seasons combined. They are on a massive upward trajectory and have the foundation set for a long era of sustained success.

Haliburton went to roughly half of the Fever’s home games this season. He’s seen Clark and company up close often. “I went to a ton because I just love hoop. To see the explosion of Women’s Basketball for a big piece of that… was really cool to see. I went to as many games as I could,” Haliburton shared. He noted that through Connnor McCaffery, a former Pacers assistant who is now at Butler and dates Clark, he grew closer to the Fever’s star. They have a group text together. “It’s been really cool to see her growth this last year, and the Fever as a whole… It’s unfortunate that they lost, but they’re a young group. They’ll be back.”

Carlisle was asked about Clark and the Fever during a recent interview with Steve Aschburner of NBA.com. “I’m a big fan,” he said of the team. “Every arena they go into is an energized happening. It’s really cool.”

He added more on Clark. “Tyrese [Haliburton] always is (courtside at Fever home games). She’s come to some of ours. She’s been a great ambassador for our city,” Carlisle said. “Caitlin has had a great year. Angel Reese [had] a great year. You can make a case that them coming into the WNBA is a little like Bird and Magic coming in in 1979. The NBA took off with those guys entering the league the way the WNBA is taking off with those two players.”

More on the Fever can be found here.





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Indiana

New Orleans takes on Indiana, seeks to end 4-game slide

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New Orleans takes on Indiana, seeks to end 4-game slide


Associated Press

New Orleans Pelicans (4-13, 15th in the Western Conference) vs. Indiana Pacers (7-10, ninth in the Eastern Conference)

Indianapolis; Monday, 7 p.m. EST

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BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Pacers -5.5; over/under is 228

BOTTOM LINE: New Orleans heads into the matchup against Indiana as losers of four straight games.

The Pacers are 5-2 in home games. Indiana ranks fifth in the league with 17.0 fast break points per game led by Bennedict Mathurin averaging 4.5.

The Pelicans have gone 1-7 away from home. New Orleans averages 14.2 turnovers per game and is 3-4 when turning the ball over less than opponents.

The Pacers are shooting 48.7% from the field this season, 0.2 percentage points higher than the 48.5% the Pelicans allow to opponents. The Pacers average 103.8 points per game, 14.3 fewer points than the 118.1 the Pacers allow to opponents.

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TOP PERFORMERS: Pascal Siakam is averaging 20.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists for the Pacers.

Brandon Ingram is scoring 22.9 points per game and averaging 5.8 rebounds for the Pelicans.

LAST 10 GAMES: Pacers: 4-6, averaging 111.7 points, 38.9 rebounds, 26.1 assists, 9.0 steals and 5.0 blocks per game while shooting 47.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 115.5 points per game.

Pelicans: 1-9, averaging 100.2 points, 42.7 rebounds, 23.0 assists, 7.8 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 42.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 114.7 points.

INJURIES: Pacers: Aaron Nesmith: out (ankle), Andrew Nembhard: out (knee), Isaiah Jackson: out for season (calf), James Wiseman: out for season (calf), Ben Sheppard: out (oblique).

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Pelicans: Zion Williamson: out (hamstring), Yves Missi: day to day (shoulder), CJ McCollum: day to day (thigh), Herbert Jones: out (shoulder ), Dejounte Murray: day to day (hand), Jose Alvarado: out (hamstring).

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.




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Wizards Drop 11th Straight in Loss vs. Pacers

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Wizards Drop 11th Straight in Loss vs. Pacers


The Washington Wizards are still in the loss column after falling to the Indiana Pacers 115-103 inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Sunday evening.

The Wizards remained competitive throughout the game, especially after the first half when they led by two points going into halftime.

However, the Pacers pulled ahead in the second half and were able to cruise to a double-digit victory.

The Pacers had seven players scoring in double figures, including a team-high 22 points from Pascal Siakam. Myles Turner had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

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The Wizards were sorely missing their leading scorer in Jordan Poole, who was ruled out prior to the game with a hip injury. That put Kyshawn George into the starting lineup, where he scored 15 points while grabbing five rebounds and dishing out five assists.

All five starters scored in double figures with Bilal Coulibaly and Alex Sarr scoring 17 points apiece for the team-high.

With 11 consecutive losses, the Wizards remain at the bottom of the NBA standings, but there are some positives that the team will walk away with.

The Wizards will look to snap their losing streak back at home on Tuesday against the Chicago Bulls.

Make sure you bookmark Washington Wizards on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more!

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Weirdo Sports Columnist Gregg Doyel Gets Worked Up Over Ohio State Dominating Indiana, Gets Eviscerated On X

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Weirdo Sports Columnist Gregg Doyel Gets Worked Up Over Ohio State Dominating Indiana, Gets Eviscerated On X


It’s a day that ends in the letter ‘y,’ so Indy Star sports columnist Gregg Doyel is acting strange online. Thankfully, this scenario has nothing to do with him acting creepy towards WNBA star Caitlin Clark, but instead, centers around the Ohio State Buckeyes blowing out the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday.

For anyone who may have forgotten, Doyel stole the show during Clark’s introductory press conference with the Indiana Fever by making the scene all about himself in one of the strangest moves ever seen in a media setting.

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Doyel introduced himself to Clark by saying “Real quick, let me do this,” before reportedly forming a heart with his hands, a gesture Clark does towards her family after games.

Clark replied by very awkwardly asking “You like that?” before things got even weirder.

“I like that you’re here. I like that you’re here,” Doyel responded. “Yeah, I do that at my family after every game, so it’s very cool,” Clark replied. 

“Okay, start doing it to me, and we’ll get along just fine,” Doyel replied back.

Long story short, Doyel later apologized for his creepy actions but was ultimately suspended by the Indy Star for two weeks.

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Naturally, each time he shares his opinion on social media nowadays, he gets chirped into oblivion and Saturday was no exception.

Doyel took serious offense to Ohio State scoring a touchdown with 35 seconds left in regulation to ultimately cap off its win over Indiana 38-15. He specifically didn’t appreciate Ohio State quarterback Will Howard celebrating the nail-in-the-coffin touchdown by putting out a fake cigarette to mock Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti.

Doyel taking offense to a 23-year-old college quarterback celebrating a monumental win over an undefeated Indiana team is odd behavior, and folks in his mentions were sure to point out that fact.

Ohio State virtually guaranteed a spot in the College Football Playoff with the win over Indiana, and the Hoosiers should be safe as well, barring a colossal loss to Purdue to close out the regular season.





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