Caitlin Clark set franchise record for assists, but Fever need her to be more aggressive

CHICAGO — With just over six minutes left of Sunday’s matinee at Wintrust Arena, it seemed like the Indiana Fever had their third win over the Chicago Sky locked up.

Indiana was leading by 12 points, 82-70, and all the Fever needed to do was keep pace. They just needed to defend without fouling, make their shots and keep their distance.

But the Sky knew how to claw out of their deficit: They needed to draw fouls. Indiana allowed 35 free throws to Atlanta on Friday night and still came away with a win despite the 20 free-throw disparity. With a closer game like this, though, free throws could be the difference. As the Sky drew more fouls, it took Indiana out of rhythm. Chicago went on an 18-5 run to end the game, scoring a one point win, 88-87, with a 22-of-32 mark from the charity stripe. The Fever went 10-of-14 from the line.

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“Chicago, they just came and started punching it at us, and we have to handle that better,” coach Christie Sides said.

Defending without fouling has been a problem for the Fever dating back to last season. The Fever led the league with 787 personal fouls last season, and currently lead the league in 2024 with 343 fouls.

“Our offense was never the problem,” Fever rookie Caitlin Clark said. “We scored 87 points and we really didn’t execute in the entire fourth quarter. We just fouled. We had to stop fouling.”

But in that final 18-5 run, which spanned nearly seven minutes, Clark only took two shots — which is unusual for the Fever’s main shot-getter.

Some of the plays made sense to run without Clark as the main shot-taker. What was originally the final play of the game (before officials deemed there was a last-second foul), the Fever only needed two points. Clark received the inbound pass to the baseline and ran around the 3-point line, trying to evade her defender. She bounced the ball to Boston, who took a jumper that fell wide left of the basket. Sides said Boston was always the intended target for that play.

Then, after the buzzer initially sounded, officials called a foul on Kristy Wallace with 0.5 seconds left in the game. Sky center Kamilla Cardoso missed both free throws, and the Fever suddenly had another (slim) chance down one point with 0.2 seconds left in the game.

At that point, a tip-in was the only play that could work. Clark inbounded the ball from the sideline, lobbing it up to the basket. But forward NaLyssa Smith missed the tip-in, and the ball fell helplessly to the ground as time officially ran out.

While Clark is their top shooter, she was always the best person to inbound the ball in that instance. There’s no time for her to catch and shoot, and the Fever needed a big (Smith or Boston) to be able to tip it in. Clark, as the best passer on the team, was the right person to get the ball above the net for a potential quick basket.

But what about the other plays in the fourth quarter where Clark passed up shots to give the ball to her teammates?

Through three quarters, Clark was having the best passing game of her young WNBA career. She was working with her teammates and finding them for quick baskets, and it seemed like the chemistry was continuing to form in the pick-and-roll game with her and Boston.

She broke the Fever’s single-game franchise record for assists with 13 while the Fever were still in the third quarter — breaking Erica Wheeler’s previous record of 12.

It was working, and she wanted to stick with it. She had built that trust with her teammates over the past month and a half, and she knew they could execute.

“I’m sure there was an opportunity or two for me to probably attempt another shot there at the end, but I trust my teammates,” Clark added. “Thirteen assists, that means my teammates scored off 13 of my passes. That’s a really great number, so I’m going to give them the ball every time to give them an opportunity to score, I believe in them.”

When asked postgame, Sides didn’t specify whether she or her players determine what plays to run in the flow of the game, especially in situations like Sunday’s fourth quarter. But the Fever coach did say she expected Clark to be more aggressive with her shot-taking in the fourth quarter.

One instance Sides pointed out was with 10 seconds after Sky guard Marina Mabrey missed both of her free throws. Clark grabbed the rebound and started in transition, and Sides expected her to take it to the basket. Instead, she passed it to Kristy Wallace, who got tangled up with her defenders and missed a reverse layup.

“I never want her to not be aggressive and take shots,” Sides said. “I really thought when she went out in transition after that missed free throw (with 10 seconds left) I thought she was gonna take it to the rim or pull up right there. That would’ve been a great shot for her, a great shot for our team. But we were up 15 at the end of the third quarter, we’ve gotta do a better job at closing out games.”

Clark only took 11 shots Sunday afternoon, nine of them 3-pointers. She finished 5-of-11 from the field (all 3-pointers) for 17 points.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Caitlin Clark took two shots in final 7 minutes of Fever loss to Sky