Rebounding from a bad night against Golden State last year, Caitlin Clark led her team to an 8-point home win.
Almost a year ago, June 19, 2005, to be exact, Golden State Valkyries notched an 88-77 home-court victory over the Indiana Fever. Indiana’s star player, Caitlin Clark, didn’t have a Caitlin Clark-like game, finishing with 11 points in 34 minutes, shooting 21% from the field (0-7 from range), and six turnovers. It was only the second game of her WNBA career in which she failed to connect on a 3-pointer.
Natalie Nakase, Golden State’s head coach, had plenty to say about that performance. Clark doesn’t like physicality, Nakase remarked, and she applauded her team for keeping Clark from taking her patented step back just before shooting.
While I get why a coach might crow after a win, here’s the thing: it’s only one game, and good players (the great ones, especially) figure things out.
Flash forward to last night in Indiana to see what I mean. Clark scored a game-high 22 points on 7-for-15 shooting (4-for-9 from the 3-point line) and dished out nine assists. The Fever won 90-82.
Let’s be clear: this was not just another game. Emotions were high, and a score had to be settled. Clark and Janelle Salaun had a dust-up to end the second quarter, which earned technical fouls, and that incident seemed to power forward Clark. She hit a shot from the logo in the third to tie the game at 48, and then drove past Tiffany Hayes to tie the game again at 52. Not done, Clark hit a 3 to give her team a one-point, 53-52, lead.
That outburst was a welcome change from the first half (44-37 GS lead), when Golden State frustrated Indiana’s starting five with strong half-court defense. The visitors shadowed every move, and the Fever couldn’t push the pace.
With Clark leading the way, Aliyah Boston (20 points on the night with 16 rebounds), Kelsey Mitchell (19 points), and Sophie Cunningham (11 points) responded immediately when play resumed. Indiana bettered the Valkyries by 12 in the third, and outscored Golden State 53-38 overall after the break.
Clark got her team going in the third quarter. That’s the luxury of having a great player on your side. When she does her thing, it opens up other players because teams overfocus on her. It wasn’t an accident that Boston and Mitchell picked up their play when the second-year WNBA team stopped focusing on them.
Here’s what you love about Clark. There are games that won’t be pretty, but you can never give up on her talent, ever. On this night, Clark displayed toughness that people don’t give credit for. The Valkyries played her physically again, but she didn’t back down.
That’s saying something, too, because it has been a tough week for her. Clark didn’t play against the Portland Fire on Wednesday (back injury), and there was concern that lingering pain would keep her out of Friday’s game. Indeed, it wasn’t until 5 PM last night that the team announced she would.
Clark not only played, but her performance also went a long way toward rebuffing what Nakase had said last year. It also spoke to the WNBA writ large:
“I’m back!”
