For Caitlin Clark, Sunday in Chicago was one of those evenings. The Indiana Fever defeated the Chicago Sky 113-90 at Wintrust Arena thanks to her 37 points, 10 assists, and career-high eight three-pointers.
Nor was it a subdued build-up. After losing two straight games and traveling more than 4,000 miles on the road, Indiana entered the game worn out. It was its third game in four nites and fifth in eight days. The team’s starting center, Aliyah Boston, was sidelined due to a leg injury. This appeared to be the kind of game that a weary, understaffed team would lose. Rather, Clark and his backcourt partner Kelsey Mitchell made the third quarter spectacular by going on a 13-2 run that turned a close game into an overwhelming victory.
Observing the growth of this Fever team, it’s remarkable how commonplace the extraordinary has become. Clark had his eleventh 20-point, 10-assist performance of the year on Sunday. Over the course of their careers, no other player in WNBA history has more than ten of those.
She later claimed that playing beside Mitchell relieves her of pressure, citing Mitchell’s capacity to draw defenders away and finish alone. It’s possible that framing downplays her own contribution to the success of that dynamic, but there’s something sincere about the way she discusses it—less self-promotion, more sincere gratitude for a teammate who shares the workload.
Mitchell, for her part, increased her own WNBA record to 23 straight games with at least 20 points by scoring 23 of her 30 points in the second half alone. The two made 14 of Indiana’s franchise-high 18 three-pointers that evening. It used to take years to establish a reputation for this type of backcourt output. It’s reasonable to question whether the rest of the league has fully adapted to this one, as it appears to have arrived practically overnight.
The box score wasn’t the only focus of the evening. Former NBA center Enes Kanter Freedom and Sky guard Natasha Cloud got into a heated altercation, which resulted in Kanter’s ejection in the third quarter. When questioned about it later, Clark simply stated that she hadn’t witnessed it because she was locked into the game, which keeps track of the numbers she was posting at the time. Despite the fact that cameras and storylines are circling every corner of the WNBA this season, this little detail reveals something about her current focus.
All of this is also part of a larger cultural moment. Whether she requested the position or not, women’s basketball has undoubtedly entered a new phase of visibility over the past two years, and Clark continues to be at the center of that change. Her presence on the floor seems to be the focal point of comparisons to previous scoring seasons, assist totals, and attendance statistics. Time will tell whether that attention turns into a burden or just fuel.
With two guards who seem to feed off each other’s rhythm rather than compete for it, the Fever appear to be a team gaining significant postseason momentum for the time being. Connecticut will next be hosted by Indiana. Defenses are running out of simple solutions, if Sunday’s performance is any guide.
