Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark realized it instantly. She went over and told head coach Christie Sides that her pass to Temi Fagbenle in transition was poor, and so was the decision to even attempt it. The Fever trailed by one possession with 5:13 to go in the fourth quarter when it occurred. They later succumbed, 99-88, to the Minnesota Lynx on Friday night.
Though Clark wasn’t asked postgame specifically about that turnover, she took ownership.
“Honestly, I thought we played really good in the fourth,” Clark said afterward. “My turnover in transition is what I felt like kind of really ended the momentum for us… honestly, made just a really bad read. I thought the girl was going to come over. She never ended up coming over.”
Clark read the Lynx’s minds perfectly on the play leading up to her own turnover. Alanna Smith dished a bounce-pass to Courtney Williams on the perimeter, and when the Minnesota guard accordingly got double-teamed, Smith faded to the elbow for her wide-open look. Except, Clark rotated over, leaped up, and with both arms, swatted the taller forward’s shot and then caught it.
In that instant, the Rookie of the Year frontrunner flexed her talent. She had been building. About 45 seconds before the block, Clark lost her defender on the arc, and of course, made the clutch basket to pull the Fever within three points. Teammate Aliyah Boston read Clark’s back cut the whole way. Clark flapped her arms repeatedly to pump up the sellout crowd. And they obliged.
So in order: it was her fifth 3-pointer of the night, then the block, and then the foot race.
She and Temi Fagbenle—her transition maestro—charged into three Minnesota defenders. They were outnumbered, and Clark led Fagbenle right into her seventh turnover of the night, compared to eight assists. On Minnesota’s ensuing possession, Williams ended up hitting the 3-pointer she didn’t take before—and as Clark later admitted to—it hammered the wind out.
In another instant, all were reminded that Clark is still 22 years old and learning. Emotions were tense in Gainbridge Fieldhouse Friday. Clark pumped up the crowd more than once in the third quarter, whether it was to make more noise when she was called for an illegal screen, or to clap and praise the refs for awarding her two free throws driving to the basket. Clark was amped-up.
She clapped tensely while checking out of the game with two minutes to go in the third, too.
Another reminder: this happened all before the 3-pointer, then the block, and the turnover.
“She’s just so passionate,” Sides said. “When she is upset or mad — we’ve been working on trying to figure out how to get past those moments. I was worried she was going to pick up a [technical foul]… thank goodness that she didn’t… she’s gotta learn that in those moments, I need my point guard to have a cool head… if it’s not a foul call you thought, you gotta get back.”
Caitlin Clark, Fever get rattled by Lynx in the third quarter, unable to recover
The Lynx outscored Indiana 29-12 in the third. The next-closest quarter was eight points.
“They came out in the third quarter and they got in our ass,” Sides added.
The opening two quarters went as predicted: the two hottest teams in the WNBA post-Olympic break — both 7-1 in this span and both with Players of the Month — traded hits. Boston held firm in the paint, and Clark worked her magic from the outside. And MVP candidate Napheesa Collier was held at bay. But in the third quarter, the Lynx turned Boston and Clark on themselves.
Boston also picked up her third technical foul of the season for arguing with the refs.
Whenever Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston worked high-action pick-and-roll, the Lynx defenders collapsed on it and fiercely defended Fever teammates coming to help. The Fever ran the action over and over, expecting another outcome that rarely, if ever, arrived. The Lynx begged for Lexie Hull and NaLyssa Smith to beat them. Hull went 2-for-2 beyond the arc, but it obviously wasn’t enough.
Minnesota snapped Indiana’s five-game winning streak. Both of the Fever’s losses post-break have been at the hands of the Lynx. Minnesota moved up to second in the standings, while the Fever firmly hold the six spot. So, depending on how the final five or six games go for both, this could be the prelude to their first-round playoff series. The Lynx lead 2-1 in the regular season.
“From a leadership standpoint, I think we hold ourselves together as a group to say shut up and work,” Kelsey Mitchell said. “Leave the refs out of it, obviously. But get to the next play… use this as fuel for our next game. As a leader you want to make sure we kind of stay on the confidence and positive note. We’ve already seen what the result was… and then we go to the next page.”
The Fever host the Atlanta Dream Sunday afternoon.
