Caitlin Clark says she took video of her reaction to the Pacers' comeback win over the Knicks

ATLANTA (AP) — Caitlin Clark says it's a great time to be a basketball fan in Indiana.

It's enough to turn Clark, one of the state's biggest stars, into a fan during the NBA playoffs.

Clark said she was so caught up in the Pacers' come-from-behind 138-135 overtime win at the New York Knicks on Wednesday night that she took video of her reaction to the signature play — Tyrese Haliburton's jumper that sent Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals into overtime.

For now, Clark says she's keeping the video under wraps, even though she offered a tease.

“I have a video on my phone I’m never going to show anybody,” Clark said before her Indiana Fever beat the Atlanta Dream 81-76 on Thursday night. “I actually showed a few people. I videotaped myself like the final play and I have my reaction in real time. It’s a pretty iconic video. Maybe one day everybody will see it, but no, not right now.”

Clark had few personal highlights in the win at Atlanta. She encountered early foul trouble and finished with 11 points and six assists.

Clark missed each of her five 3-pointers, ending a streak of 140 games, including the WNBA regular season and playoffs and the bulk of her college career at Iowa, with at least one 3. The last time Clark was held without a 3 was Jan. 13, 2022, when she went 0 for 6 against Purdue during her sophomore season.

Clark said she regretted not getting video of herself when Haliburton made the game-winning layup in the Pacers' decisive 119-118 win over Milwaukee that sent Indiana to the East final. With her favorite NBA team in another close game, she seized the opportunity.

“I was in my hotel room,” Clark said. “It’s a good thing I had taken a nap earlier in the day so I could be able to stay up for overtime.”

Clark's boyfriend, Connor McCaffery, just completed his first season as an assistant coach at Butler following a year working for the Pacers in basketball development. The two are following the Pacers' postseason closely.

“I mean, that team, they never give up,” Clark said. “They find a way to defy the odds. You go back and look at the ESPN probability tracker and it was like 99.7% for the Knicks last night and that’s just crazy.”

Clark was a breakout WNBA star as a rookie last season and is helping to fuel the league's soaring popularity. The Dream moved Thursday night's game to State Farm Arena, home to the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, and said shortly before tipoff that the 16,888-seat venue was sold out. The Dream's normal home, Gateway Center Arena, holds only 3,500.

“It’s great being in Indianapolis right now,” Clark said. “People are loving basketball. It’s always been a basketball state. It’s just fun to be a part of.”

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) attempts a shot in the first half of an WNBA basketball game against the Atlanta Dream, Thursday, May, 22, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) drives to the basket against Atlanta Dream guard Te-Hina Paopao, left, in the first half of an WNBA basketball game, Thursday, May, 22, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) creates space against Atlanta Dream guard Te-Hina Paopao (2) in the first half of an WNBA basketball game, Thursday, May, 22, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)

Atlanta Dream guard Te-Hina Paopao (2) drives to the basket against Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) in the second half of an WNBA basketball game, Thursday, May, 22, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark reacts after making a three-pointer in the first half of an WNBA basketball game against the Atlanta Dream, Thursday, May, 22, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) reacts after being called for a flagrant foul on Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese during the second half an WNBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) drives on Atlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard (10) in the first half of a WNBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) drives around Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray (15) in the first half of a WNBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.

In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.

Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.

“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.

If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.

For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.

“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.

Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.

"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.

Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.

Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.

Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.

The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.

“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.

As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.

What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.

The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.

One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.

Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.

“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.

The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.

Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.

“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.

Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.

“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)