INDIANAPOLIS — For three quarters of Friday’s game against the Mystics, Caitlin Clark could hardly hit a shot. In the fourth quarter, she could hardly miss.
Clark scored 17 of her 32 points, including five 3-pointers, in a wild final frame of regulation and dragged the Fever back into a game against the Mystics they looked set to lose. Her fifth 3-pointer was the biggest of the night as it forced overtime in the waning seconds.
Even though Clark’s heroics would not be enough as the Fever fell to Washington in the extra session in one of the best finishes of the young WNBA season, it still highlighted just how quickly things can change with Clark on the floor.
“I felt like I could have made another like five [threes],” Clark said postgame. “They’re all like right there and, obviously, it’s great to break through and get some to go down.”
Clark hit a pair of threes on successive possessions midway through the first quarter. As it would turn out, those would be her only two makes through the first three periods.
Clark was an ice cold 2-15 from the field and 2-7 from three heading into the fourth, mirroring the Fever’s offensive struggles as team as they were shooting just 32.8% from the field in that span.
But back-to-back threes from Clark in the first 90 seconds of the fourth were a precursor of what was to come in the final 10 minutes.
Clark scored or assisted on 11 of the first 12 points of the period. The only point she didn’t directly create was a Monique Billings free throw…which came on a foul after a Clark pass. She would go on to assist or score on 18 of the first 21 points for the Fever as they pulled themselves back into the game.
Her third three gave the Fever a short-lived 70-69 lead. By the time she connected on her fourth three, the Fever trailed by four with just over 90 seconds left. That deficit grew to eight with 51 seconds left, leaving Indiana in need of a miracle.
After a Myisha Hines-Allen layup, a Mystics turnover led to a Kelsey Mitchell 3-pointer, cutting the deficit to just three. The two teams traded free throws, leaving the Fever down three with 5.1 seconds left.
A great play design from Indiana head coach Stephanie White created just enough room for Clark to get off a shot as she drifted out-of-bounds. It was all the space she would need as the shot found nylon, tying the game with 1.7 seconds left.
“That’s like the hardest thing as a basketball player is when you’re not making shots to really stay in it,” Clark said. “So I’m certainly proud of myself. Really, really battled.”
The Fever were given one more scare in the wild fourth quarter as Sonia Citron’s half-court heave swished through the net, but it came after the buzzer, sending the sides to overtime.
Unfortunately, all those heroics to force the extra session were for naught as the Mystics responded again, building a multi-possession lead in the closing minutes. Again, though, they left the door open as missed free throws and a timely 3-pointer from Lexie Hull gave Indiana a chance in the final seconds.
However, a desperation shot from Mitchell fell short at the buzzer, allowing Washington to escape with a dramatic win.
For the Fever, as much as they can take away from their fight in the fourth and overtime, it was the middle quarters that were the most costly. Indiana shot 10-42 in the second and third periods, including 3-19 from range.
“If we don’t have three clunky quarters, we don’t force ourselves into basketball heroics,“ Clark said. ”We don’t want to play that way. Like I know it’s exciting for the crowd, but we should have had ourselves in a position, especially after the first quarter, to control this ballgame and we really didn’t.”
Friday was the second time in three games the Fever have eclipsed 100 points. Ironically, they have lost both of those contests, a sign of both how great this team can be offensively and how much work they still have on the other end.
“We put a lot of pressure on our offense to be perfect when we don’t consistently defend,” head coach Stephanie White said. “Again, this is on us as coaches. This is our responsibility. We’ve got to be disciplined the entire game. We’ve got to be disciplined every possession. We’re taking chances. We’re fouling shooters who are about to shoot tough shots. We’ve got breakdowns in coverages. We’ve got to find combinations of players and rotations that’s net efficiency can be good.
“We can’t wait to play defense in situations where we feel good and we’re making shots. It seems like we’re making shots and everything’s flowing and we’ve got energy on the defensive end, and when we’re not, we don’t. It’s got to be the other way around. The energy has to be dictated on that end of the floor and that’s a mindset.”
As dramatic and exciting as Friday’s fourth quarter was, the game as a whole highlighted where the Fever need to grow. No team wants to have to rely on “basketball heroics” to potentially win a game.
But it was also a sign of just how special Clark can be and how quickly she can deliver those heroics to try to save the Fever from defeat.
