Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever suffered an ugly 89-72 loss to the Connecticut Sun on Monday night to fall to 3-10 on the season. Clark finished with only 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting in what was one of her worst games of her young WNBA career.
Clark got into some foul trouble and sat for a long time in the second half, which led to something you’re not used to hearing in the arena of an opposing team—fans started chanting “We want Caitlin!” with hopes that the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft could get back out on the court.
Here are those scenes:
Chants of “We want Caitlin” are starting to ring out here at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Clark hasn’t played since the middle of the third, when she picked up her fourth foul. pic.twitter.com/yU0HQDkh4H
“We want Caitlin” chant has broken out at Mohegan Sun Arena. Clark was taken out at the 5-min mark in the third quarter. It is now 3 minutes in the 4th.
Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I don’t think the Timberwolves are going to complete the comeback, but I’m glad they’re at least shortening the break before the NBA Finals.
Over the course of her first seven WNBA games, Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark looked like, well, a rookie. She had a handful of solid offensive performances (three games with at least 20 points) but also her fair share of struggles (like a 2-for-8 shooting night in a loss to the Las Vegas Aces on Saturday).
But in Tuesday night’s game against the Los Angeles Sparks, Clark had her first true superstar game as a pro, scoring 30 points (on 7-of-16 shooting) with five rebounds, six assists, three steals and three blocks. She’s the first rookie since Rhynne Howard in 2022 to have a 30-point game and the first since Sabrina Ionescu in ’20 to have 30 points, five assists and five rebounds in a game. Not impressed yet? Clark is the first rookie in WNBA history and just the fourth WNBA player ever to have at least 30 points, five assists, five rebounds, three blocks and three steals in a game.
That’s the kind of performance fans expected from Clark when she turned pro, and it was only a matter of time before it became a reality. Every rookie needs some time to adjust to the higher level of play in the pros, and the transition is especially hard for WNBA players who had barely a month between the end of their college season and the start of their rookie year.
But it wasn’t all positive news for Clark. For one thing, she also notched seven turnovers. Losing the ball has been the biggest problem for Clark in her brief pro career. She currently leads the WNBA in turnovers per game with 5.3, well ahead of the next closest player, Skyler Diggins-Smith with 4.3. Turnovers are nothing new for Clark. She led the NCAA in that category three times in her college career and ranks third on the all-time list. But if the biggest problem with her game is that she coughs the ball up a little more often than you’d like, that’s something the Fever can certainly live with.
More disappointingly, the Fever lost the game, 88–82, to drop to 1–7 on the season. That’s the second worst record in the league. Only the winless Washington Mystics (0–6) have been worse.
“I think I just played with an aggressive mindset,” Clark told reporters. “I think that was the biggest thing—to play downhill the best I could. We did some good things and then we just kind of shot ourselves in the foot.”
The Fever’s best stretch came immediately after halftime, when they started the third quarter on an 11–0 run to take a 43–37 lead. But the Sparks closed the quarter with an 11–0 run of their own to go up 59–55. The Los Angeles lead swelled to as many as 14 in the fourth quarter as the Fever failed to turn the tide.
“You don't give yourself a chance … You can't do something right for two and a half quarters and then just stop doing it,” Indiana coach Christie Sides said. “We were going under some of the screens that were supposed to be going over. We were gambling and getting out of position.
“Instead of us stepping over and stopping them (and) having our teammates’ back, we're reaching. That’s just a lack of discipline.”
The Fever clearly still have a lot to figure out, but the more games like Tuesday’s that Clark has, the easier the wins will come.
Towns stepped up to keep Minnesota alive vs. Dallas on Tuesday. / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
The basketball world went into a frenzy when the U.S. Olympic women's basketball team was announced on Saturday, mostly because Caitlin Clark was left off the roster.
While many fans were upset about this "snub," Clark reacted to the news with class by explaining how she wasn't disappointed to hear the news. Instead, she's using this as motivation to help her make the team for the 2028 Olympics.
"Honestly, no disappointment. I think it just gives you something to work for," Clark said, via Indy Star's Chloe Peterson. "It's a dream, hopefully one day I can be there. I think it's just a little more motivation. You remember that and hopefully in four years, when four years comes back around, I can be there."
Here are her full comments:
When it comes to not making the Olympic team, Caitlin Clark has nothing but praise for the 12 who made it: “it’s the toughest team to make.”
Instead of just focusing on herself, Clark shifted the conversation to talk about how excited she is for the 12 women who were named to Team USA.
"I'm excited for the girls that are on the team," Clark said. "I know it's the most competitive team in the world. I know it could've gone either way of me being on the team, me not being on the team. I'm excited for them. I'm going to be rooting them on to win gold."
Clark has helped bring in record crowds to Indiana Fever games this season, and her stardom was reportedly part of the reason she was kept off the Olympic team this year as the team worried how fans would "react to what would likely be limited playing time on a stacked roster."
Saturday's game between the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky was supposed to be a celebration of the WNBA's most heralded rookie class ever, with Fever guard Caitlin Clark squaring off against Sky forward Angel Reese and center Kamilla Cardoso.
While still a memorable game—Indiana won 71–70—it became yet another unfortunate referendum on Clark's reputation throughout the league.
Late in the third quarter, Chicago guard Chennedy Carter slammed into Clark on an inbounds pass and was called for an off-ball foul.
When the quarter was over, Clark was asked about the foul.
“Yeah, that’s just not a basketball play,” Clark said via The New York Post. “But you know I’ve gotta play through it, that’s what basketball is about at this level.”
Chennedy Carter fouls Caitlin Clark on the inbound. Away-from-play foul called. pic.twitter.com/LodLF5oKMF
