Caitlin Clark scores career-high 30 points, but Fever lose to Sparks

Caitlin Clark vs. Aari McDonald: Things get chippy early, stay physical throughout

Although the reasoning was unclear, Caitlin Clark received a technical foul with 2.7 seconds remaining in the first quarter. It must have been a verbal offense, because Sparks guard Aari McDonald appeared to get in her face to retort after the foul, in between her two free throws.

However, McDonald may have just been returning to her defensive assignment, not realizing she had another free throw to shoot.

Early in the second quarter, McDonald earned a flagrant foul on a 3-point attempt from Clark. Clark hit two free throws, then a 3-pointer about a minute later to put the game at a 24-20 deficit still in Los Angeles’ favor.

Clark ended the first half with 14 points, her most in a single half during her brief WNBA career. McDonald finished the first 20 minutes of play with nine points.

The future of the Fever – Clark and Aliyah Boston – set the tone to start the second half, scoring seven of the first nine points of the third quarter to put Indiana ahead 41-37. During this stretch, the 2023 WNBA Rookie of the Year hit her first 3-pointer of the 2024 campaign.

McDonald, now guarding Erica Wheeler, hit consecutive 3-pointers during an 11-0 run in the middle of the third quarter. This run put Los Angeles back in front 59-55, and McDonald continued to be vocal toward her opponents.

As the fourth quarter went on, every time Indiana cut the deficit to one point, the Sparks responded with a successful 3-pointer. Los Angeles finished the contest 14-of-23 from 3-point land.

With 2:02 remaining, Clark set a new WNBA career-high in scoring with a free throw to bring her total to 23. When all was said and done, Clark finished with 30 points while McDonald scored a season-best 21 points for the Sparks.

By the time the contest came to a close, there were 46 combined personal fouls, 10 more than the 36 committed in the first meeting between the two squads.

Stops, steals and deflections

About two hours prior to tip-off, Fever coach Christie Sides said the key to defeating the Sparks on May 24 was their defense. In the contest at Crypto.com Arena, the Fever forced 18 turnovers compared to the Sparks only drawing 10 out of Indiana.

In particular, Sides thought the Fever came out of the locker room in the second half with an especially keen focus on defense, citing an improved sense of urgency.

“We’ve got to let our defense give us some offense,” Sides said. “We’ve gotta get stops and we’ve gotta get steals and we’ve gotta get deflections.”

Through the first seven games of the season, the Fever had averaged 15.9 turnovers per game compared to forcing 12.7 per game. In fact, transition defense is what Sides said will bring success to the rest of the Fever’s season.

At the end of the first quarter, the Fever had forced six turnovers while the Sparks had forced four. However, each squad earned four points off those turnovers.

On the first possession of the second quarter, Los Angeles fired back by forcing a turnover but failed to capitalize on the offensive end. At halftime, the Fever had forced 11 turnovers and scored 10 of their 32 points off them.

During their two practice days in between their most recent May 25 contest against the Las Vegas Aces, Sides said Indiana was able to focus more on adding more to its defense schematically.

“We’ve played the most games, the most games on the road, (had) the least amount of rest, so we’re trying to grind it out and figure it out as we go,” Sides said.

Things only continued looking up for Indiana in the second half, as the Fever forced five more turnovers to bring their total to 16. At the same time, there seemed to be an effort to get Kelsey Mitchell more involved in the offense, as she put up 10 in the third quarter, bringing her total to 15 points.

By the time the buzzer sounded, the Fever may have lost, but they proved Sides right on the defensive end, forcing 19 total turnovers which led to 24 points off those turnovers.

Previous struggles in the paint show signs of improvement

Sides said another key to future victories for the Fever should come with an improved emphasis on rebounds, especially limiting their opponents’ offensive boards.

Through the first six games of the season, Indiana had averaged 33.1 rebounds per game and 8.3 offensive rebounds as compared to its opponents’ averages of 35.3 and 9.7, respectively.

At the end of the first quarter, Indiana may have been outrebounded nine to eight, but the Fever had four offensive rebounds in comparison to the Sparks’ one. Clark, Temi Fagbenle and Kristy Wallace all finished the quarter with two rebounds, one of Fagbenle’s being on the offensive glass.

“Temi is a fighter, man,” Sides said before the game. “She’s a competitor.”

However, the Fever were at a disadvantage heading into the second quarter, as Boston already recorded two fouls, picking up another before halftime. Fagbenle grabbed one more rebound in the second quarter, and the Fever obtained seven others as the Sparks snatched nine more. Clark led Indiana with five first half rebounds, while Dearica Hamby ignited the Sparks’ charge with eight boards.

The Fever changed the first half trends in the third quarter, scoring 14 points in the paint during this 10-minute stretch. This put Indiana ahead of Los Angeles in this category 20-18.

The Fever also closed the rebounding gap, only trailing the Sparks 25-24 heading into the final quarter. Indiana, at this point, had seven offensive boards compared to Los Angeles’ four.

In what looked to be a potential turning point early in the fourth quarter, Boston grabbed an offensive rebound after a missed layup from Clark, putting the ball back up for an and-one layup, converting the free throw as the crowd erupted.

The Fever were only losing by one at this point, but the Sparks’ Rae Burrell responded with a 3-pointer on the next possession. About a minute later, Boston was charged with her fifth foul after attempting to grab a rebound against Los Angeles’ Li Yueru.

Boston successfully snatched a board on the following possession, hitting Clark in transition for a 3-pointer to put the deficit back at just one point with less than eight minutes remaining.

While the Fever ultimately fell, they showed improvement down low, recording 28 total rebounds and nine offensive boards. As far as points in the paint, Indiana scored 26 while Los Angeles scored 22.

The Fever return to action Thursday, May 30 with a home contest against the Seattle Storm at 7 p.m. When the two squads squared off May 22, Seattle triumphed 85-83.