Even a Caitlin Clark airball is a good sign for surging Fever. They’re playing with joy.

CHICAGO — At the end of the day, Caitlin Clark was just having a good time.

The Indiana Fever were up, 96-71, with just over four minutes left in the game against the Chicago Sky. The game in the bag. So, Clark was taking whatever shot she wanted; whether it would be normally ill-advised or not, including a 3-pointer over Sky 6-7 center Kamilla Cardoso.

It didn’t touch the rim. Or the backboard. But Clark didn’t care.

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She walked back in transition, laughing to herself, as Sky fans heckled her for an airball. And while it looked like she pointed to the scoreboard in response to those fans, she said postgame she pointed toward a fan specifically.

“I was just having fun with the fans,” Clark said, laughing, postgame. “It has nothing to do with Kamilla, I love Kamilla, she’s awesome, but yeah, I just launched one for fun, it was kind of a bomb. It was a good airball. I had to get a good airball in.”

In the Fever’s next offensive possession seconds later, Diamond DeShields ran into Clark, pushing her to the ground around halfcourt. It was ruled a transition take foul originally, then upgraded to a flagrant 1 — the second flagrant 1 the Sky committed on Clark in the game.

Again, Clark wasn’t fazed. She hyped up the crowd — an away crowd, mind you — by pumping her hands up in the air, and the screaming fans easily obliged. She sat down, grinning, for the final time to her Fever teammates to cap off a career-high 31-point and 12-assist effort in a 100-81 win Friday night. It was the first time in WNBA history (anyone, not just a rookie) had 30+ points and 12+ assists in a game.

“Caitlin Clark just gives you energy, right?” coach Christie Sides said. “It’s just who she is. I mean, she just keeps it alive, but she knows when to turn it on. You know, she’s a competitor, just a fierce competitor. It’s like just trickling off to our other players.”

Clark’s charisma near the end of the game, her sheer joy in just being on the court, is a sign of a turning corner for the Fever. At the beginning of the season, when the Fever were sitting at 1-8, there were shots of Clark sitting on the bench looking discouraged with her new team’s struggles.

Now, her cheerful personality, beamed with the confidence of multiple wins, is shining through on the court and in news conferences.

“This was a big one for us,” Clark said. “It almost counts towards two when you’re in the playoff race, of like, a loss and a win. So we knew it was a big one, but also, we wanted to win the season series with them, that was kind of a focus point … I thought we were really good. And honestly, like, I just had a lot of fun playing. I thought we played with a lot of joy. We played up tempo. We shared the ball.”

This win, especially in the playoff race, was pivotal for the Fever, who are now 5-1 in the six games since the league restart. Indiana now holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Chicago, Atlanta and Phoenix — three teams challenging for the playoff spots around the Fever.

This win, which puts the Fever at a .500 record in August for the first time since 2016, also gives them the No. 6 spot in the WNBA standings. Indiana is technically tied with Phoenix in the win-loss column, but the Fever’s sweep gives them the advantage.

Suddenly, the Fever went from 1-8 to start the season to 16-16 and firmly in the playoffs. A once-doomed season, now has more than just hope. It was results. And a team playing with confidence.

“It could have gone sideways real quick at 1-8,” Sides said. “And I keep saying it over and over, the character of people that we have in that locker room, they just weren’t going to let that happen. Frustrated, yes, needed some confidence, yes. And we just kept working on that and building on that. And that’s kind of why I think we are where we are today. Just kept showing up, kept getting better, kept showing them where they were getting better.”

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana Fever, Caitlin Clark playing with ‘joy’ as wins keep piling up