Indiana Fever forward Katie Lou Samuelson (33) yells in excitement with Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) and Indiana Fever guard Lexie Hull (10) on Thursday, June 13, 2024, during the game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Indiana Fever defeated the Atlanta Dream, 91-84. | Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Indiana Fever were feeling loose before their final regular season game against the Washington Mystics on Thursday.

So loose, in fact, that veteran player Katie Lou Samuelson hilariously got rookie sensation Caitlin Clark lying on the ground and put in a chokehold during the Fever’s pregame shootaround, which eventually caused a smiling Clark to tap out.

Samuelson is also a member of Clark’s “de-escalation committee”, which is the group of Fever players who do everything in their power to ensure that Clark does not receive technical fouls as a result of jawing at referees during games.

During a Fever media availability session on Saturday, Samuelson was asked about her tapping out the rookie and discussed what went into that exchange.

“You know, she’s just such a kid sometimes,” Samuelson said of Clark. “She keeps everything light, but sometimes you’ve got to put her in her place.”

Samuelson was then asked about her most recent de-escalation efforts during Thursday’s game.

“If we can keep her from getting technicals, that is always a positive,” Samuelson responded. “We made it through without getting to seven [technicals], so that was our goal as a group. And we did it.

“She’s just always chirping, but it’s good. And she knows it, too. So it’s just easy to laugh about it and play off of it,” she added about Clark.

While the Fever don’t need to worry about Clark getting suspended due to technical fouls in the playoffs, they would prefer to not give up unnecessary points via free throws either. So the de-escalation committee will likely be out in full force on Sunday.