Caitlin Clark appears at Game 3 of NBA playoffs between Pacers and Bucks

In her first appearance at Gainbridge Fieldhouse as part of the Indiana Fever, No. 1 overall WNBA draft pick Caitlin Clark hyped up the crowd at Game 3 of the NBA Eastern Conference matchup between the Pacers and Bucks.

Clark waved to the crowd before tip-off while she sat in a custom-built car. The top pick is gearing up for the season, which begins with a preseason game on May 3 at Dallas.

“Felt pretty good,” Clark said. “Revved it up for the first time. Fans are crazy. Pacers fans, I know you’re amazing. I hope to see all this summer rooting on the Fever.”

Fever’s Caitlin Clark pumps up Pacers crowd before Game 3

Caitlin Clark crashed the NBA’s playoff party Friday night and drew a standing ovation from her new home fans. Twice.

She’s hoping to do it all over again in September in the same place.

The WNBA’s No. 1 draft pick and Division I’s career scoring leader revved up a raucous Indiana Pacers crowd by pumping the accelerator of a replica IndyCar before Game 3 against the Milwaukee Bucks.

It was Clark’s first public appearance on the Gainbridge Fieldhouse court since the Indiana Fever drafted her last week. Naturally, the nearly 17,000 fans broke into loud applause for the city’s newest superstar.

Clark did not speak but when she joined her new Fever teammates midway through the second quarter to toss T-shirts into the stands, veteran guard Erica Wheeler did.

“Playoffs!” Wheeler told the team’s emcee when asked about this season’s goal. “We want to be doing this and we’ve got the pieces. We want it to look like this every night.”

Indiana might make it look that way if it makes its first playoff appearance since 2016.

But Clark’s presence already has spurred a change. The Fever are already one of the WNBA’s hottest tickets, as was the case during her college career at Iowa when sellouts became the norm and television ratings hit record highs.

Ticket sales in Indiana already have spiked and before she has even played a pro game, some teams, including two-time defending WNBA champ Las Vegas Aces, have already moved home games to larger venues.

Clark arrived in Indianapolis on April 17 for an introductory news conference, then returned home with her family to Iowa. She was back in town Friday night for the Pacers first home playoff game since April 21, 2019, and will stick around for the start of training camp Sunday.