Caitlin Clark, Fever leave no doubt vs. Sky; gain key advantage in WNBA playoffs push

CHICAGO — The Indiana Fever officially hit the .500 mark with a 100-81 victory over the Chicago Sky on Friday night, ending a chippy game with a 3-1 series advantage in this budding rivalry.

The Sky were aggressive throughout the night, committing two flagrant 1 fouls on Fever rookie Caitlin Clark. And without their leading scorer Chennedy Carter, the Sky just couldn’t keep up with the Fever, who notched their largest margin of victory (19) of the season. Clark finished with 31 points and 12 assists. Sky rookie star Angel Reese had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

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Here are three observations:

Fever control most of game, get largest victory of 2024 season

At one point in this game, the Fever trailed, 21-9. That didn’t last for long.

After going down 12 points, the Fever went on a 14-5 run of their own to get within three points at the end of the quarter. Once they got a lead in the second quarter, they didn’t look back.

With the Sky missing the quickness and spacing of leading scorer Chennedy Carter because of health and safety protocols, Indiana quickly piled up points from the perimeter.

Indiana shot 13-of-29 from 3-point range on Friday night, which includes a 5-of-9 mark from Fever rookie Caitlin Clark.

Clark, in the same building she first set the Fever single-game record for assists, dropped 12 more to her teammates on Friday night and added 31 points. Kelsey Mitchell scored 23 points, marking her sixth straight game with 20+ points. Temi Fagbenle, who played 18 minutes, had a +/- of 29 despite only scoring three points — a testament to her defensive abilities.

Fever get to .500 for first time since 2022

Having a .500 record is, by all means, not that much an accomplishment in most leagues. For some, you don’t even make the playoffs with that kind of record.

But for the Fever, it’s an accomplishment they haven’t sniffed for years. Until Friday night.

With Indiana’s win over the Sky on Friday night, the Fever have officially broken .500 for the first time since the 2022 season. That .500 record in 2022 came at the beginning of the season (2-2) before losing five games in a row and ultimately ending 5-31.

It was a 103-game streak, per ESPN Stats and Info, the Fever played while being under .500. That’s one achievement down for the surging team. On Sunday, they have the chance to do something that the franchise hasn’t seen since 2019: have a winning record at any point during the season. Indiana plays Dallas, which is 8-22, on the road on Sunday for a chance at that elusive winning record.

To have a .500 record this late in the season is huge for the Fever — usually, with eight of the league’s 12 teams going to the playoffs, not all teams have .500 or better record at the end of the season.

With the 2022 No. 2 pick (NaLyssa Smith) and 2023 and 2024 No. 1 picks (Aliyah Boston, Caitlin Clark), this improvement has been a long time coming for the Fever. This season especially, it’s a sign of stark and fast improvement for a team that hasn’t seen the playoffs since 2016.

Win helps Fever’s WNBA playoffs implications

This was a huge game for the Fever in terms of possible playoff implications. A win means the Fever have the official head-to-head advantage vs. Chicago in the case of an eventual tie near the bottom of the standings.

The Fever now have the head-to-head series victories over both the Sky and the Atlanta Dream — the two teams fighting for the No. 8 spot in the playoffs. So, if the Fever were to end up tying with either of those teams in the standings, they would get the more favorable spot.

This also applies to the Phoenix Mercury — a team the Fever swept this season. Both the Fever and the Mercury are 16-16 following Indiana’s win, and that means the Fever would officially be in the No. 6 playoff spot if the season ended today.

After eight years out of the playoffs, the Fever could plausibly finish as high as sixth this year.

How many points did Caitlin Clark score against the Sky?

Caitlin Clark scored 31 points on 8-of-14 shooting (5-of-9 from 3). She also dished out 12 assists and grabbed four rebounds.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever blow out Chicago Sky, Angel Reese