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Caitlin Clark heats up in second half, but Fever lose to Aces again

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2 months ago

September 14, 2024

Caitlin Clark heats up in second half, but Fever lose to Aces again

INDIANAPOLIS — In essentially the most aggressive sport of the season collection, the Indiana Fever dropped its second straight sport to the Las Vegas Aces, 78-74, on Friday night time.

The Fever are actually 19-19 on the season, sitting at sixth place within the playoff image.

Insider:Fever can ‘take one thing’ from back-to-back losses vs. defending champs

Extra:Groups wish to take away Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell. Aliyah Boston will ‘need to be prepared.’

Listed here are three observations:

Fever swept for first time this season

With the Aces’ 4-0 sweep over the Fever this season, Las Vegas is formally the one workforce the Fever haven’t overwhelmed this season. For a workforce that gained 5 video games simply two years in the past, although, the Fever have improved immensely to solely be swept by the back-to-back reigning WNBA champions.

Particularly because the final sport of the collection got here to fouls on Friday night time. The Fever bought inside one level late within the fourth quarter, however could not recover from the hump.

The Fever averted a sweep over the league-leading New York Liberty in July, giving the Liberty one in all its six losses on the season. Indiana additionally averted being swept in opposition to third-place Connecticut and fifth-place Seattle, whereas successful the primary sport of their collection in opposition to second-place Minnesota.

Caitlin Clark breaks single-season assists report

In an uncommon night time, Caitlin Clark did not have any factors at halftime. In an evening fraught with a technical foul within the first quarter and three private fouls by the two-minute mark of the second, Clark solely performed 14 minutes within the first half and took simply 5 pictures.

However she made these first-half minutes might by establishing her teammates.

Clark racked up six assists in her 14 minutes on the courtroom, and her fifth one was a record-breaker. She inbounded the ball to Kelsey Mitchell after a foul, and Mitchell laid it in for Clark’s 317th help of the season — a brand new WNBA single-season report. It broke Connecticut Solar ahead Alyssa Thomas’ earlier report of 316, set in 2023.

Coming into this season, the Fever rookie has at all times mentioned she prefers to arrange her personal teammates. Her courtroom imaginative and prescient is unmatched, even making the bounce from the faculty ranks to skilled basketball. However often, her scoring hasn’t wavered with that courtroom imaginative and prescient — she nonetheless averages 17.8 factors per sport.

And she or he confirmed that within the second half. She picked up 14 factors within the third quarter alone, taking pictures 6-of-9 in that quarter.

Fever work by way of bodily sport, Clark referred to as for technical

Within the first of this back-to-back in opposition to the Aces on Wednesday, the Fever struggled to get right into a move due to seemingly fixed fouls. The Fever want to play up-tempo, transition basketball, and whistles bought into the best way of that.

It was the identical story within the first half Friday, because the Fever and Aces have been referred to as for eight fouls every within the first half. Three of these went to Clark, forcing the Fever rookie to sit down.

Clark additionally picked up her sixth technical of the season, as she hit the stanchion in frustration over her second private foul. Clark has been given a technical foul for hitting the stanchion as soon as earlier than, but it surely’s additionally one thing she’s finished all through the season that hasn’t been topic to a tech. That places Clark one away from a one-game suspension if she have been to choose one up earlier than the top of the common season.

Aside from fouls, there have been a number of different stoppages; Fever heart Aliyah Boston was elbowed within the face, and he or she needed to go to the locker room for a bit (she finally returned to the sport). Later within the second quarter, Boston and Aces guard Chelsea Grey fought closely for a ball that was finally referred to as a bounce. Erica Wheeler additionally had successful to the face within the third quarter, however she walked it off.

Kelsey Mitchell was the one purpose the Fever stayed within the sport within the first half, going into halftime down by simply eight; Mitchell had 19 of the Fever’s factors, whereas no different participant had greater than 5.

The Fever finally discovered their grove within the third quarter, capable of play the tempo offense that has been profitable for a lot of the season. In that quarter, they outscored the Aces 22-17.

What number of factors did Caitlin Clark rating in opposition to the Aces?

Caitlin Clark completed with 18 factors — all within the second half. She shot 7-of-18 from the ground (2-of-8 from 3) and flirted with one other triple-double, ending with 9 assists and eight rebounds.